THE shockwaves on this occasion have been far less severe, perhaps because Formula 1 is slowly becoming more immune.
Toyota Motor Corp's decision to close their F1 operation is still a surprise, even if it had been speculated upon since Honda stunned the motorsport world by announcing their withdrawal 11 months ago.
In March, with the world reeling from the glob
al economic crisis, the planet's largest car manufacturer announced the biggest losses in their history, running into billions of pounds. It appeared only a matter of time before the team with a reported annual budget of £300million would wind up on F1's scrapheap, and so it has sadly transpired.
The main reason it has raised eyebrows, though, is because over the summer, after a ceasefire in F1's civil war between the teams and the FIA, Toyota signed a new Concorde Agreement through to 2012.
It appeared at that stage as if Toyota would remain in the sport for the next three seasons at least, that they would ride out the current financial storm and appear under sunny blue skies again. But it is quite apparent a different mentality exists within the corporate confines of Japan's companies when you consider Subaru and Suzuki pulled out of the World Rally Championship before the new season.
Toyota's exit this week has been preceded by Bridgestone's decision on Monday not to renew their tyre supply contract come the end of next year.
There may be small shafts of light at the end of the tunnel as far as the credit crunch is concerned, but it is abundantly clear these remain tough times, in particular for F1.
Global giants like Toyota cannot be seen frivolously wasting millions of pounds on a glamour sport when their core business is suffering. It may appear hard on the 650 staff at the team's Cologne factory, and TMC president Akio Toyoda may feel he has betrayed the fans as he claims, but he has many thousands of employees to consider.
There are also foolish suggestions Toyota have thrown in the towel on F1 after eight fruitless seasons, and it is true, they failed to once stand on top of the podium in 140 grands prix.
Toyoda, though, has to consider the bigger picture because the surreal world of Formula 1 is far removed from the realities that exist in other businesses elsewhere, in particular in Japan.
F1 will find a way to soldier on. It always does. But there remain warning signs, ones new president Jean Todt has to heed if the sport, as a whole, flourishes and survives, even if 13 teams are still scheduled to be on the grid next season.
