Mohammed ben Sulayem's announcement that he will be stepping back from day-to-day matters in Formula 1 will have been gratefully received by most within the sport.
For the past few weeks, the relationship between F1 bosses and the FIA has been deteriorating. Conflict between the two pillars of leadership has been brewing behind the scenes for longer, and has been a factor for much of Ben Sulayem's presidency to date.
Naturally, the FIA claims this was always the plan. But they would do well to truly convince anyone that the timing of the move had nothing to do with the recent wave of bad press which has left the president fretting over his re-election chances.
In truth, the reasons don't matter. Nicholas Tombazis – a man with far greater experience in F1 and who has stronger relationships with the main players in the sport – is now the main point of contact for the FIA, though it remains to be seen how much the governing body plans on interfering going forward.
The big topic remains the rule change which bans "political, religious or personal" statements from being made by drivers during an official F1 event. The reaction from those racers has been unanimous – they are concerned about this perceived attempt to curb their free speech.
The FIA says the move was simply made to bring its policy in line with those of the IOC. Questions remain over exactly how strictly it will be enforced. Plus, F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali has already vowed that the sport will not "gag" drivers – another topic upon which the governing body and the commercial rights holders appear to be on opposite sides.
One of the major concerns – and unknown factors – remains about the FIA's true intentions on this matter. What sort of messages will be approved? After all, most examples in recent times have been of drivers such as Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel highlighting social inequality.
The cynical assumption might be that the FIA is trying to avoid any public embarrassments. For example, Vettel's comments in Canada last year about a "climate crime" sparked a furious backlash from politicians in the country. Drivers have also called out anti-LGBT+ and anti-women laws in Middle Eastern countries in the recent past.
Surely, the FIA realises it would be a PR disaster to – for example – refuse a driver's request to race with a rainbow-coloured helmet in Qatar? Or to wear a T-shirt highlighting and denouncing gun violence in the US? Where is the line drawn?
That's what drivers want to know. "We need clarity from the FIA on what they are trying to tell us," demanded Alex Albon earlier this week. Sergio Perez said it is something many of the drivers are not comfortable with, and hinted that it will be a hot topic of discussion at the first GPDA meeting of the year.
All eyes will be fixed firmly upon what happens at the Bahrain Grand Prix in a few weeks' time. Ideally, these questions will have been answered before then. But if the FA chooses self interest over the drivers' wishes, then the already high tensions between the sport could reach boiling point.
