Davide Brivio's departure from Suzuki leaves the Japanese factory with a huge dilemma: whether to find a new team boss from outside or hand the role to somebody who can maintain their current philosophy.
The Italian's bombshell move, which will see him being announced shortly as CEO of the Alpine Formula 1 team, is particularly surprising as it comes a matter of months after Suzuki celebrated its first MotoGP world championship title in 20 years, at the hands of Joan Mir.
However, every situation depends on how you look at it, and there can be no doubt that the Spanish rider emerged victorious from one of the strangest seasons in the history of the series. The format of the championship was changed completely due to the impact of coronavirus, with a calendar featuring just fourteen races taking place at only nine circuits.