"It's not like he's vanished."
Michael Andretti stepping back from leading the Andretti Global operation for the first time since he bought into the IndyCar team in 2003 with Barry Green is a big deal. Of course it is.
But there are two narratives or pictures to paint here which are diametrically opposite.
On the outside, that narrative has been one of questioning whether this seismic shift will bring instability. There's a power vacuum to fill and a key figurehead of the operation stepping back. People will question how much that will impact the team until we get some proper tangible data. Especially as Michael has been fully in control of the operation in that role since 2009.
But the other narrative or picture, that which comes from speaking to those inside the organisation, is very different.
While that hypothesis for potential uncertainty is common on the outside, on the inside the team has received increased funding and resources. After stripping back to three cars in 2024, for this year it has also dropped its technical partnership with Meyer Shank which involved contributing personnel and parts to two cars on that team, a role now fulfilled for Shank by Chip Ganassi Racing.
That's only helped to focus its efforts on three cars even more - it has been dropping the number of entries but keeping the people involved to create a bigger pool focused on each entry or on research and development in more holistic support.
In short, the vibe on the inside is that of course Michael stepping back is a downside with his knowledge and experience, but he's still involved as an advisor, and while all the attention has been on that storyline, the team in the background has been hard at work with fresh resources and people to help move the team forward.
"We only see it as positives within the team," said driver Kyle Kirkwood, when asked about Michael's impact on his career coming up and what his stepping back might mean.
"Obviously Michael is still around. It's not like he's vanished. I think he'll still play a role in the team, and for us, obviously I have that connection with not only Michael but with everybody on the team.
"We're excited to go forward, and obviously Dan [Towriss] and Michael have a plan, and their plan seems to be coming together, so we're excited."
Of course there is uncertainty, as the added effort towards a now tangible goal of Formula 1 looms over the wider organisation.
Michael was first and foremost a brilliant racing driver, probably not given the credit he deserves in some cases for his ability. He's helped and moulded plenty of the current IndyCar grid into race winners and champions through his team ownership and mentorship, and even helped win some of those races directly with strategy calls and such.
But Andretti has moved on from a racing team to a business. It has had teams in Formula E, IMSA, Extreme E, South American tin-tops, and of course IndyCar, with an upcoming F1 effort under the Cadillac banner to now maximise too.
Could Michael have led this organisation forward even with the added F1 team? Certainly. But will someone with a more business-based background be a better fit for the next era of the sprawling juggernaut of a team/conglomerate? Probably.
Successful businessman Dan Towriss is now the figurehead of the portfolio with everything coming under the TWG Motorsports umbrella. That's the F1 effort with Cadillac, IMSA with Wayne Taylor Racing, Formula E, which remains as Andretti as does the IndyCar team, and the Spire NASCAR team which Towriss had invested in separately to Andretti and wasn't part of Andretti's stable previously.
Doug Duchardt - a very well known name across Chip Ganassi and Hendrick Motorsports in NASCAR - is the new TWG Group chief performance officer, and he has IndyCar experience too, so it will be interesting to see how much he impacts the IndyCar programme. Other hires include COO Jill Gregory, who spent more than a decade as NASCAR's executive vice president and chief marketing and content officer.
Michael is stepping back to spend more time with his family and he's earned that. He's turned Andretti into a global powerhouse, and in IndyCar terms last year it looked closer than ever to ending the inconsistency that has blighted it for years and scored its best oval results in a while which feels like it has been a missing piece in its jigsaw.
Colton Herta came second in the championship and could easily have won it, which would have ended a run stretching back to 2012 with Ryan Hunter-Reay as Andretti's last drivers' champion.
While Herta and Kirkwood have been in the Andretti pool for years, perhaps its new signing for 2024, Marcus Ericsson, can provide the freshest perspective on what Michael Andretti stepping back means for the team.
"Everything that's been happening, it's been in a positive way," Ericsson told The Race last month.
"There is a lot of motivation within the team. It's a lot of resources being poured into the team. So, we have all the tools and opportunities at our disposal to be the team to beat, and that's where we want to be.
"From the owners and down, everyone is really determined and pushing hard to win, basically. So it's really fun to be part of that and see how much effort is put in. Not only me, but every time I go into the shop, there has been so much work done in the season, and the guys have really put in a tonne of work to improve us on every aspect of the team.
"So that's been really cool to see. And I think everything that's going on is going to be a positive for us on the IndyCar side as well."
As Kirkwood rightly points out Michael will still be there, most of the people behind last year's success are also still in place, and it has the added benefit of more personnel coming back from loan spells at Meyer Shank.
The outside narrative may be one of a changing empire with question marks hanging over it, but the inside one is one of added resource, positivity, and a desire to build on one of its most successful IndyCar seasons in years.
It won't be long until we find out which storyline has prevailed.
