The bombshell that Mercedes will quit the DTM to focus on Formula E at the end of 2018 had an unintentional side effect: it showed Formula 1 the direction it should take in the future.
The reason this would have been unintentional is that the direction such a decision maps out for F1 is at odds with Mercedes' public proclamations about what it wants the pinnacle of motorsport to be.
Unsurprisingly, as the dominant force in the current era of high-tech F1 engines, Mercedes would very much like something similar in the future. It heightens the Stuttgart firm's chances of staying on top of the pile when the next era of F1 most likely begins in 2021, and it makes pitching to the Daimler board an easier sell when it comes to keeping hold of the astronomical budget required to run a world championship-winning juggernaut.