Back in 2019, two full years after Liberty Media acquired Formula 1, I received a call from a New York-based investment analyst asking if I thought the sport's new owners stood a chance of growing the number of official sponsors of the world championship. Bernie Ecclestone had not fully exploited the opportunity, yet Liberty were making positive noises about the prospects for strong growth in that area.

"Give it time," I said, pointing out that Liberty was rather busy with more pressing matters. This included finalising a new Concorde Agreement with the teams and developing a financial model for the sport that worked for all the key stakeholders.