Up until a few weeks ago, the view of many in Formula 1 was that the success or failure of its owner Liberty Media could only be properly judged depending on how its 2021 rules vision panned out.
After all, many of the problems that F1 has faced since the American media giant took over had lingered before Liberty's staff had got their feet under the desks.
Several key factors that have been at the core of F1's problems in recent years, such as the huge pay gulf between the top teams and the rest, a governance structure that had crippled the sport by giving too much power to the competitors, and the charge towards pay TV were all consequences of Bernie Ecclestone's watch.