Mario Andretti hopes the path to Formula 1 for his son Michael’s Cadillac-backed project is no longer as "blocked".
In the words of Dutch journalist Jack Plooij, "There’s a lot going on in F1" at the moment.
Greg Maffei, the CEO of the sport’s owner Liberty Media, for instance, "is leaving", Plooij told Ziggo Sport.
And there are new rumours that F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali is also set to be ousted from his position, possibly in a switch to MotoGP.
"It all has to do with the victory of Donald Trump," Plooij said.
Indeed, before the election, it was the Republicans who were pushing the investigation into F1’s alleged anti-competitive behaviour regarding blocking the Andretti-GM team bid.
Like Maffei at Liberty, Michael Andretti has now stepped aside at Andretti Global - and many insiders are detecting a behind-the-scenes settlement that could result in Andretti slipping into the F1 pitlane.
"Let me be clear," said Michael’s famous father, Mario, as quoted by Italy’s Autosprint magazine. "Politics is certainly not a priority for me.
"However, I have done my duty as a citizen and I am certainly not disinterested in the management of public affairs. This is why I say I am happy with Donald Trump’s return to the White House."
Mario Andretti admits that he knows Trump’s son, Donald jr, well. Plooij continues: "They’re going full-on attack now, with the help of the Republicans, towards Formula 1."
Andretti continues: "Obviously this is a very delicate situation, in which every word spoken can be misunderstood and cause further problems.
"What can I say? On the one hand, Michael is 62 and a little more time to himself certainly won’t hurt him. But then there’s another angle, because in the event that his presence was an obstacle to the dialogue between Andretti Global and Formula 1, perhaps this could be a good reason to find ourselves with a less blocked situation."
The 1978 world champion confirmed that the Andretti-Cadillac project is "moving forward" with the goal of debuting in F1 in 2026.
Meanwhile, amid rumours the FIA fired race director Niels Wittich because of the highly controversial red flag situation of Brazil GP qualifying, Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko backed his successor.
"He did a very good job," the Austrian told f1-insider.com when asked about Wittich’s successor, F2 and F3 race director Rui Marques.
"I think the FIA has made a good decision to present him as Wittich’s successor."