That Porsche dumped the World Endurance Championship and Le Mans in favour of Formula E is, frankly, no surprise, for after winning the sportscar championship in 2015 and '16 and being on track to repeat it this season - plus taking its tally to 19 Le Mans 24 Hours victories, the last three on the trot - what else is in store for the prestige German sporting marque other than being squarely beaten by what is considered a humdrum consumer brand in the shape of Toyota?
The fact that Porsche has chosen to compete in FE does not, however, mean that Zuffenhausen is lost to Formula 1, for close Stuttgart neighbour Mercedes will soon be participating in both the fossil-fuel and electric championships - while Renault, confirmed as 2017 FE teams' champion on Sunday, from last year added F1 to its electric campaign.
The same could, of course, be said about Audi: the four rings could well decide to enter F1 in parallel with FE, having now ramped-up its partnership with Abt, with which Lucas di Grassi secured the FE drivers' title in Montreal this weekend past.