Bernie Ecclestone is F1: he made it into something more than motor racing by negotiating the sale of the TV rights for the benefit of all of the teams (and his pocket).
For FE to eclipse F1 then something major has to happen with the TV rights. At the moment it does not look like FE will have the big star names and the legendary teams. Even if the racing is really good then it will need more than that 'natural appeal' - there is plenty of good racing in lesser formulas as it is but this does not translate to a sizeable TV audience of avid fans. F1 has great spectacle value that no other formula has, FE will struggle to attain that and will consequently be an also-ran formula.
For FE to eclipse F1 then something major has to happen with the TV rights. At the moment it does not look like FE will have the big star names and the legendary teams. Even if the racing is really good then it will need more than that 'natural appeal' - there is plenty of good racing in lesser formulas as it is but this does not translate to a sizeable TV audience of avid fans. F1 has great spectacle value that no other formula has, FE will struggle to attain that and will consequently be an also-ran formula.