When Formula One Management CEO Bernie Ecclestone makes two TV appearances on national broadcasters as disparate as RT in Russia and ZDF in Germany within a week, there simply has to be a ploy.
When he faces the German cameras with former FIA president Max Mosley - his mate of 40 years' standing, and whose administration sold him the sport's 113-year rights for a pittance - deliberate strategy clearly overtakes tactic.
This is a man who, after all, never does things willy-nilly, and has avoided the limelight more than most men of his standing, even while standing accused of £30m bribery charges. Thus it was fascinating to compare the broadcasts, particularly as this column exclusively interviewed Ecclestone in Russia, shortly after he made his RT appearance, and ahead of the German interview.