The US Grand Prix used to be a tough sell, now COTA can't make grandstands fast enough: Medland

Ten years ago, Lewis Hamilton stalked Sebastian Vettel for 41 laps before finally being able to use a backmarker to force his way into the lead and secure victory at the United States Grand Prix.

Over 117,000 people watched the race, and it felt like a big moment. Hamilton had prevented Vettel from opening up too big a gap over Fernando Alonso in the drivers’ championship heading into the final round in Brazil — potentially allowing Alonso to secure the third title, that was surely inevitable at some point in his career, before Vettel could – and it gave Hamilton a sign-off win before he left McLaren for Mercedes, perhaps never to win again.

How little we knew.

It was a different time. V8s were screaming, Kimi Räikkönen was telling Lotus he knew what he was doing, and America was being asked if it could love Formula 1 once again.

We were five years on from the last time F1 had raced in the States at Indianapolis – a marriage that was always doomed to failure after the breakdown in trust caused by the 2005 race debacle – and there just hadn’t been the clamour from the sport’s perspective to get back there. Bernie Ecclestone had flirted with locations, but it was Austin that put everything into it and made it happen.

Support from the local government, a location just outside an up-and-coming city, and a track that was designed specifically for F1. That was a recipe that had been seen a number of times before around the world, and quite often led to the grand prix circus rolling into town for a few years, taking the cash and not feeling the need to look back when the money dried up and a new opportunity opened up elsewhere.

Unlike that thrilling opening act, year two saw the title battle long since settled in Vettel’s favour. Then came the introduction of V6 turbos that lessened the visceral impact, and with it an era of utter dominance from Mercedes that often rendered the race a battle for the final spot on the podium.

It was hardly conducive to creating a lasting legacy for the sport, because it was tougher to sell it at its very best when it was so rarely being seen at its very best. And nor was it being aimed at the loyal number of fans who were showing up.

It’s fair to say Liberty changed all of that. Even openly stating that the aim was to increase the sport’s footprint in the United States just made the massive sports fanbase feel wanted. That cracked the door open.

And it’s too easy to say it was just the Netflix series that resonated. Concepts such as having the legendary boxing announcer Michael Buffer introduce all of the drivers in 2017 was dismissed as a gimmick by some, but it catered to the sport’s surroundings. No more was F1 just showing up and doing the same thing each weekend – like it or lump it – but it was activating and adapting to where it was going to be racing.

That’s something that has spread. Liberty’s stated aim of making every race like an NFL Super Bowl might be overly ambitious – one of the reasons it’s such a big event is because it happens just once a year – but it does mean each race works hard to be the biggest and best show in town, with the commercial rights holder’s support.

There was also the decision to hand the television rights to ESPN in order to be able to have greater control over F1’s own product – F1 TV – while also showing such a big broadcaster how valuable an asset the sport could be as part of its programming. Now, a major new extension is set to be announced, along with big new sponsors during a race weekend at a venue that recently signed its own new deal.