He may be gone, but he could also come back insists Mercedes boss Toto Wolff about Bernie Ecclestone's departure from Formula 1.
While the former 86-year-old supremo recently trashed rumors that he could be setting up a rival series, Wolff says the man who rules Grand Prix racing for many decades cannot be written off, although he doubts any sort of comeback is in the cards.
"With Bernie, you never know if he's really gone or if he will be back somehow," he told the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
"But it's true that Liberty has not only got the majority of shares in Formula 1 but also the voting rights, and with this is the right to occupy the management. Chase Carey is the new boss -- that is a fact," Wolff said.
The many trump cards Ecclestone has played in his career should perhaps make us believe that anything is possible, but the odds appears low.
"This has happened repeatedly in the past, and of course you have to count on anything in Formula 1. However, I basically assume that a situation has now been created in which there will be no way back."
The jury is still out as to whether the future of Formula 1 has been boosted or put into jeopardy by Ecclestone's ousting.
"Both are possible," Wolff admitted.
"The risk is that a lot of knowledge is lost. Bernie made incredibly good deals, we have long-term contracts and building on that is not easy because much of it was built on personal relationships that Bernie built up over decades.
"On the other hand, there are also areas where we can improve. The (2016) qualifying story, the discussion about the engine formula -- we were always confronted with erratic decisions.
"The approach will now be much more strategic and thoughtful, based on data, with areas in which we can improve examined in detail," he concluded.
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