Carey, however, recognises he and his team have only just started scratching the surface of what they feel can be achieved overall moving forward to ensure the sport has a long-term future.
Asked as to whether he was satisfied with his three years at the helm, Carey replied: “You should never be satisfied.
“For the first two years, '17 and '18, I guess we really viewed them as foundation building. The sport had been run too much for a short-term dollar and not long-term growth. We wanted to change that.
“We needed to put elements of the foundation in place. There was no organisation beyond financial and legal staff. We didn't have a marketing organisation, a research organisation, a digital organisation. We had a one-man sponsorship group, a one-man TV group.
“We didn't have the tools and the resources to engage partners, to grow the sport. We didn't have a motorsports group to figure out how to make the sport and the tracks better. We had to put all those in place because we wanted to try and change the culture.
“And while you're always going to have competition on the track, we wanted to make it more of a partnership. We wanted to make sure, whether with the teams or promoters, we were working with them.”
It meant that throughout 2019, the Formula One Group could start to grow the business.
“We made progress,” said Carey. “We've had solid growth, and not just financial, but growth in terms of attendances and viewership being up, and our digital engagement is way up.
“We've had real success, but we're not declaring victory, we're not satisfied. It's early days, we're making progress but certainly, our work is more in front of us than behind us.”
Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.