Who slept best last night: Stefano Domenicali

It has been 20 years since Formula 1 embarrassed itself in front of the American crowd, giving its absolute best at being too political, too complicated and too careless about its own image – leaving just six cars on the grid at Indianapolis.

F1 under Bernie Ecclestone had its charms: constant battles between the teams and the championship chiefs, mostly over money, with Concorde Agreements signed at the very last moment and endless talks about breakaway championships. Divide et impera at its finest.

Just like Liberty Media does now, Ecclestone tried to conquer America too, but F1 was often simply too busy doing its own thing to care much about winning over the US audience.

It’s not mission accomplished yet – far from it. F1 remains “tiny” in the United States compared to the sports that dominate American weekends. But you can’t accuse today’s F1 of not trying.

Current boss Stefano Domenicali was busy announcing new deals last weekend. Just hours before Sunday’s race came the news that Austin’s Circuit of the Americas – the track that brought F1 back to the US in 2012 after it packed up and left Indianapolis in 2007 – will stay on the calendar until at least 2034, keeping the number of American rounds at three for the foreseeable future.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing (Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images)

But the big one came earlier, on Friday morning: the Apple TV broadcasting partnership, reportedly worth around $140million. Yet what matters most to Domenicali is not money. The days when Formula 1 simply sold television pictures and converted them into cash are long gone. What matters is the brand behind it – Apple – which can help F1 grow in the US and beyond.

It follows, of course, the Apple-produced movie, as well as the success of Drive to Survive, which showed F1 just how much untapped potential it had in North America.

The race itself, admittedly, was no thriller. Lando Norris’ duel with Charles Leclerc was enough to keep things entertaining, but making every race spectacular is a battle Formula 1 will probably never win – and maybe shouldn’t even try too hard to. But in the grand scheme of things, this weekend could prove crucial in this year’s championship.

All in all, it was a strong showing for F1 in Austin, one Domenicali and Liberty Media can be happy with. The title fight looks alive again, and there’s now the potential for a big finale too – which is reminiscent of 2010.

A few weeks ago, after Zandvoort, it looked all but over – not only for Norris, who took a big hit in the points with his retirement, but also for Domenicali and everyone following the championship. Oscar Piastri led by 34 points and looked ready to methodically squeeze the intrigue out of the season in his usual way: calm, emotionless, almost effortless. It felt like that title was done.

It’s hard to sell something like that – in America or anywhere else.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing (Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images)

Max Verstappen was so far back that when Andrea Stella warned in Baku that he still considered Max a threat, most of the media thought he was joking.

But now, at McLaren, no one’s laughing – that’s for sure. The Dutchman has barged straight back into what seemed like an internal McLaren battle – one that had already lost its spark.

There are many people who deserve credit for Red Bull’s resurgence – not least new team boss Laurent Mekies and technical chief Pierre Wache, along with everyone at Milton Keynes.

F1 owes them for injecting fresh excitement into the title race – and doing so at the right time and in the right place.

And, like it or not, it was Domenicali’s beloved short Saturday race that added an extra twist, with McLaren’s double DNF turning the championship dynamic on its head.

It might not have been the kind of show to hook casual American fans who just watched what turned out to be Brad Pitt’s most successful movie – but if even some of them stay for the unfolding title fight, Domenicali can sleep very well indeed.