Aprilia MotoGP team boss Massimo Rivola was quick to point out after Marco Bezzecchi's stunning British Grand Prix win that the victory didn't just represent an important step forward for the team, it also acted as an important message to the currently sidelined reigning world champion Jorge Martin after a damaging fortnight for his relationship with Aprilia.
But, while many interpreted Rivola's message to Martin as a rather bullish 'look how good our bike really is' statement, the reality may be that it was meant in a much more gentle way, as the squad attempts to coax Martin back into a better place with Aprilia ahead of his eventual return from injury.
Most of the Aprilia headlines since the day after the French Grand Prix and up until Bezzecchi crossed the finish line at Silverstone in first place have been not about its on-track performance but about the drama going on off the track, as news emerged that Martin was looking to find a way out of his deal despite having yet to complete a single grand prix this season.
He is reportedly looking to execute a performance clause that would give him an early exit at the end of 2025 instead of 2026, even though the reason he hasn't achieved the points tally that clause is likely to be based around is because his trio of injuries means he's only been on track at a single race weekend.
Aprilia released a brief statement ahead of the British race that very much served as a warning to Martin (and interested rivals) that it wasn't going to let him go without a fight.
"The contract between Aprilia Racing and Jorge Martín is valid and in effect," the statement read, "and as such, it must be respected by both parties until its expiration [end of 2026].
"Aprilia Racing has honoured it in full, within the agreed upon timelines and terms, and will continue to do so in the future.
"Aprilia Racing denies that any negotiations have taken place between the parties to modify the duration of the contract, which remains as originally agreed upon."
That point was nicely underlined on Sunday with Bezzecchi's phenomenal victory, too, something that should have gone some way towards reassuring Martin that while the bike might not have delivered much success up until this point, there's definitely more potential to unlock.
And that's the somewhat more gentle message that Rivola seems to have been trying to convey rather than the more bullish headline quotes that his post-race debrief largely generated.
"We are, let's say, waiting for him," he explained to the written media after the race. "Our mission is to have the best possible bike in order that when he will come back, he finds the best possible bike ready to win.
"We proved that the bike can win, but we need to do it many more times. I cannot say more than that.
"The only thing I feel for him is that when you are a rider, when you are such a good athlete, and you spend most of your time in a bed, in hospital, suffering - nobody can know how much the bad time that is passing [affects you]. I think this is something that we have to respect.
"Riders should ride the bike more than spending time at home suffering. Even if it is part of the game."
What exact shape Martin's future relationship with Aprilia will take remains to be seen, and it's something that Rivola wouldn't be drawn on when asked exclusively by The Race for an interview you'll be able to watch in full on our MotoGP YouTube channel soon.
But one thing that does seem to be clear is that right now, the plan is still very much to have a relationship with Martin going forward rather than taking recent events as a sign that the partnership is already past a point of no return.
"The thing that we need to do is to have a faster bike," Rivola stressed. "That is priority number one.
"We would like to work with Jorge. We've got the contract with him for that reason. That's something that still is our will.
"We just wanted to state that part, because we also read in the press, especially in the Spanish press, a lot of bulls**t - and we felt it was the time to make, let's say, a point. To say: 'this is the situation'."
