When details became known of Lola and Abt's split and Lola's decision to bring its Formula E project more in-house for the Gen4 car era, the received wisdom in the paddock was that 2026 had to be Lucas di Grassi's last hurrah as a driver.
But that is not an odds-on bet just now.
Di Grassi is his familiar, focused self when it comes to getting his job done, even if at present that job is perhaps happening more in the background and not on the results sheets. He impervious to the paddock gossip.
He's inevitably synonymous with the Abt organisation given they enjoyed glory days together. Di Grassi's image is emblazoned upon Formula E history through the 2017 title decider when he and Abt clinched the silverware in unforgettable style during an insane Montreal finale that summer.
In Miami last month, he was seen chatting to a brother in arms, Franco Chiocchetti, his race engineer in his title season and enjoying a rare visit to the paddock. Chiocchetti, now supplying engineers himself to the paddock via his RaceOn organisation, joked to The Race that di Grassi would "still be racing in the next life, too".
Joking apart, di Grassi kind of agrees with that sentiment.
"I have to drive thinking I'm going to race forever," he told The Race.
"Otherwise, my performance is not where it is. So, for me at the moment, I'm training, I'm planning, I'm doing the stuff I need to do to be able to drive at the best of my game for as long as possible."
Di Grassi, now 41, is still tearing it up with drivers literally half his age. One of these is his own team-mate Zane Maloney (22 years old) and the stats back it up. In qualifying Di Grassi has so far come out on top by 11-8 in the 19 events they have contested together so far, while in races experience trumps youth 32 points to one.
That of course is only the statistical colour. Beyond it, Maloney has had several performances that have been strong and probably warrant a few more points. Still, di Grassi, at this stage, feels far more likely to be with the Lola-Yamaha project as it enters Gen4, although both drivers have contributed to the early phase of the Gen4 reliability testing.
The Brazilian's towering personality and presence in Formula E have become almost ubiquitous. His understanding of the technical elements needed to become competitive are appreciated by the Lola Yamaha Abt team. He continues to work with long-time engineer Markus Michelberger, who has been himself a key figure in working with the Lola designers and engineers on the Formula E project.
Lola's team principal Mark Preston appears relaxed about di Grassi's future. Relaxed but positive.
"It was very important, I think, at the beginning of this rebirth of Lola to have someone so experienced as well to help us get this whole programme off the ground and certainly help getting points and showing what we could perhaps do in the first season," said Preston.
"We hope that we can use Lucas and his experience to do exactly what he did, helping us get onto the starting grid and growing as a group, so I think we should be able to find ways of working together in the future."
But there is also a bit of an elephant in the room here, too, and one that needs addressing. At present, the idea of any team other than Lola offering di Grassi a race deal for Gen4 is quite unlikely.
Di Grassi disputes this. Of course he would.
"I'm scheduled to do the development of Gen4, and I think in a few months we're going to sit down and discuss if I'm going to continue here, if I'm going to go somewhere else, if I'm going to stop," di Grassi told The Race in Miami.
"It's not clear at the moment. For me, I would like to continue if I have a competitive car, that's the way I see it."
Could a big part of di Grassi heading into a 13th season of Formula E actually be down to Lola's decision to go fully in-house? The response is intriguing.
"This split, bringing the team in-house, I think for the future of Lola is positive," he said.
"For the short term, maybe not. But for the medium and long term, it's definitely something positive. I've been discussing a lot with Mark, with [Lola owner] Till Bechtolsheimer, with trying to understand and trying to help build Lola to become a leading motorsport entity."
Di Grassi has consistently shown he has incredible staying power within one of the world's most competitive grids. The Gen4 era, hyped as Formula E's most exciting yet, could still ignite yet another chapter for Formula E's original true believer.
