The primary reason F1 is entering its longest-ever season

Race-hosting fees remain the primary way for Formula 1 to boost income, so it was no surprise when a record 22-race calendar was confirmed for 2020.

The 2021 rules make provision for an eventual extension to 25 grands prix, something that few involved, other than the Liberty management and F1 shareholders, want to see.

In November 2018, Liberty announced its first all-new race in Hanoi for 2020. In May, there was confirmation of a return to Zandvoort and inevitably the success of Max Verstappen guaranteed a huge demand for tickets.

Vietnam and Holland are big scores for Liberty, but efforts to add a prestigious race in Miami continued to flounder. The original plan to run around the Bayfront Park and port area was abandoned when it proved impossible to get approval from the relevant authorities.

The focus switched to the decidedly less glamorous car parks around the Hard Rock Stadium, owned by F1 race promoter Stephen Ross and home of the Miami Dolphins NFL franchise.

Plans were derailed by local residents, with the requirement to use one small stretch of public road making life difficult. Local politicians expressed their opposition, but the mayor of Miami-Dade County intervened and is still trying to broker a compromise.

With the two new races fixed early, F1's focus turned to keeping the existing events. By coincidence the contracts of five classic grands prix - Spain, Britain, Germany, Italy and Mexico - came up for renewal.

Naturally, their promoters wanted better deals than they had achieved under Bernie Ecclestone, encouraged by the fact that Miami involves a new revenue-sharing model, rather than a huge upfront fee.

Mexico City was perhaps most at threat, due to the loss of government funding, but thanks to new investors a three-year deal was announced in July. After prolonged debate Silverstone and Monza both agreed five-year contracts just before their 2019 events, while in August a one-year reprieve was granted to Barcelona.

The loser was Hockenheim, squeezed off the 2020 calendar with little chance of a return in prospect.

F1 continued to struggle to make headway on attracting major sponsorship, with only a few minor deals announced during 2019

A handful of major broadcasting contracts came up for renewal and among those extended were those of Sky Deutschland and Holland's Ziggo. The latter was one of the first to make express provisions for direct co-operation with Liberty's own 'over-the-top' streaming channel F1 TV.

Liberty has high hopes for the service, but it made slow progress, in part because it remains blocked in those regions - such as the UK - where ongoing exclusivity deals with broadcasters mean it cannot yet be introduced.

The first series of Drive to Survive proved to be a huge success on Netflix, and in July F1 formally green-lit a second series, although filming had been underway all season. Crucially this time both Mercedes and Ferrari were on board, providing at least some backstage access, having opted out first time around.

The Netflix deal generated useful extra revenue, but more importantly it did much to raise the sport's profile worldwide.

However, F1 continued to struggle to make headway on attracting major sponsorship, with only a few minor deals announced during 2019 and diversions into areas such as car auctions and official fragrances raising a few eyebrows.

But F1 CEO Chase Carey remains bullish about future income.

"We have some momentum today," he notes. "We've had attendance up, we've had viewership up, we've got a good story, we've got new dimensions to the sport. You need to tell that story and may need to develop tools.

"Sponsors want partnerships that are more tailored uniquely to them. In the past, signs on a wall worked. That doesn't work now.

"We had to develop the array of initiatives, whether it's digital initiatives, regional feeds, virtual ads, fan festivals. Until the sponsors are signed, deals aren't done. But, certainly, I'd say we feel we've gotten progressively better as we've gone along."