So Michael Schumacher will not be making a pit stop at a race track near you after all. Instead of the smell of burning rubber, the former Formula One great will probably take in the aroma of freshly-grilled bratwursts as he spends the German autumn nursing his injured neck.
Yet no matter how much pain he will be in from that motorcycle accident in February, it is the sport he teased, while he flirted with a return this summer, that will suffer the most.
Schumi was a racing god, blessed with so much skill within the confines of his fire-red Ferrari that he often resembled more of a demon on wheels. This one man was able to manipulate machine like no other, commanding it to turn on a hairpin, pushing it to break new speed marks as he tormented the F1 world.
Yet the return of King Schumi - the sport's greatest champion with seven world titles - was never going to be only about whether he could dominate after almost three years away from the track.
As with Jordan and Armstrong, the return was as much about former heroes coming back to rescue the sport.
The return of a past-prime Michael to basketball in 1995 came at a time when the sport lacked a superstar. Magic Johnson was gone, so too Larry Bird, in an era before the rise of Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.
Basketball was calling out for another household name, someone whose mere name will draw a full stadium, keep people glued to their TVs and send shivers down the spines of rivals.
And as Jordan showed, the sport missed him. His comeback in the red and black of the Bulls - against the Indiana Pacers - had the highest Nielsen rating of a regular season NBA game since 1975.
His Airness, complete with the dunks and the Air Reverse, was back.
Similarly, when Lance got back on the bicycle this year, cycling was better for it.
This was a sport plagued by drug scandals. Armstrong, innocent until proven guilty, was the one guy who showed that no mountain was too high, no valley too steep as he won seven consecutive Tour de France titles, drug free.
This was a guy who battled testicular cancer like it was just another rider in the peloton.
LeTour, so often scoffed at and dismissed since Armstrong's retirement in 2005 because of the prevalent drug use, was in vogue again.
Fans fell in love again, newspapers devoted pages and pages while television stations made cycling their top sports item.
Mr LIVESTRONG was back.
That Jordan went on to win three more titles after his return, and Armstrong was unsuccessful on his return, is immaterial. What had a greater impact was what their return did for their respective sports.
Like Schumi,, they had an aura of invincibility about them. Can they really not just win but dominate again? Will they be as consistent? How will they respond to pressure? Seeking answers to these questions alone was enough to keep fans hungry for more.
Which is why F1 will suffer now that Schumacher has confirmed he will not be back - at least not this year.
Felipe Massa's injury - while unfortunate - could have probably been the best thing to happen to the sport in a year which saw it overwhelmed by off-track problems.
Between the top teams threatening to pull out, the power struggles in the sport and the under-performing favourites, there has been few positives in F1 this year. Interest in the world's most popular motorsport has been waning.
The possibility of Schumi's return changed that.
Suddenly, the buzz was back. CNN, BBC devoted hours of programming just debating what the Schumi effect could do for the ailing sport.
In Singapore, the possibility that he would be in town for September's Singapore GP boost sluggish ticket sales. More than 7,500 tickets were sold in the week after he had announced that he would step in for the injured Massa in the Ferrari team.
Sport often makes, or breaks, men. Winners are celebrated just as quickly as losers made to fall by the wayside.
But once in a while, man too, can make sport.
That the man who could salvage a forgettable season is no more is a pain in the neck for F1.