The F1 star back on top in Singapore

He's back in the game. Things haven't been easy for him in recent months, but it is pretty clear now that the magic of the old days has returned.

Fighting fit, clear of distractions and fully focused on the job that needs doing over the remainder of the year, he's moved up another gear.

He may deny that recent dramas held him back and got him down in the first place, but there is a fresh sparkle in those eyes again.

Whatever he was really feeling during recent dark moments - when his problems grabbed newspaper headlines around the world and every word was pored over in minute detail - it's been replaced with something much brighter.

He is flexing his muscles once again. The big problems have been consigned to the rubbish bin and the focus is now only on the future and doing the best job of his life.

Perhaps it was the prospect of seeing everything that he had built up taken away from him that forced him to dig a bit deeper to not only get his world back on track, but also do what was needed to push it back to the very top.

I'm not talking about Lewis Hamilton here - although the Singapore GP was certainly an important weekend in terms of the title and refreshing his belief that the championship remains very real this year despite recent dramas.

Ecclestone makes his feelings knowns to Red Bull boss Christian Horner © LAT

Instead, the Marina Bay F1 weekend delivered no clearer message than Bernie Ecclestone is back, and perhaps stronger than ever before, after all that had happened in the courtrooms of Munich this year.

The low profile he has kept in recent months is no more. Here, under the floodlights, he was at the centre of everything again: at one moment announcing a new commercial tie-up for his F1 business with Johnnie Walker, the next declaring that F1 needs third cars and the lifting of the engine freeze.

Blink for a second and then he was taking credit for F1's team radio ban being all his idea.

Then he made the confession that his most controversial of gimmicks - double points - was perhaps a step too far and would not reappear after this season. A few moments later he was hinting about a return to Munich for Oktoberfest...

Indeed, the types of famous quip that had always formed a part of Ecclestone's arsenal of charm, hard-headedness and distraction were being fired off left, right and centre throughout the weekend.

Who is going to win the championship? "Don't tell anyone this, otherwise I'll be in big trouble... but one of the Mercedes drivers!"

What does he think about Formula E? "Are there any lawyers around...?"

How do you reduce the cost of F1 tickets as the teams want? "Just put the price down..."

However cheeky, or however much they skirted around the real issues, all of his answers pointed again to a sharpness of thought that has not been evident for a while.

Three Ferraris on the grid is something Ecclestone would love to see in 2015

The comments on third cars, double points and driving aid bans were also back to true, old-school Ecclestone. Are they what he really thinks? Are they aimed at distracting his enemies by focusing them on the wrong target?

Or is it all just the same divide-and-rule tactic that he has used to brilliantly carve up F1 and push it in the direction he wanted over the last few decades? Only he really knows, which means that everyone else is left guessing.

It was not just in public that there were signs of a new era too. Sources say that in meetings he is sharper in negotiations, but equally more open than he has been for a while to the sport making the changes it needs to turn around its declining popularity.

Ecclestone's old, stubborn "my way or no way" approach now appears to have been replaced by a willingness to get things done the right way.

It was telling then that on this weekend, having famously slated social media as a passing fad earlier this year, there emerged the first steps of a new policy to engage with F1 fans more.

Featured on TV broadcasts all weekend were messages to 'Join in the conversation' - pointing viewers to a weekend hashtag. There was a big Twitter push from F1's official website, too.

It's not as good as it could be yet, but it's a step - and that should be welcomed.

Times are changing. Perhaps Ecclestone is ready to accept that there are areas of the business where others can do better, which leaves him to focus on those parts of it where he remains the master.

Love him or loathe him, F1 is better off when Mr E is at his very best.