AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) -When Bernie Ecclestone was asked about a group of guests receiving VIP treatment at a Formula One race nine years ago, the commercial supremo said they were representatives of "a fruit company".

The explanation reflected his particular sense of humour, and secretive way of working, rather than any disparagement of Apple Inc .

Friday's announcement of Apple's five-year deal for Formula One's U.S. broadcast rights, replacing Walt Disney's ESPN, was seen as a logical follow-on from the box office success of Apple's F1 movie, starring Brad Pitt.

The California-based company's interest in the sport, at a senior level, goes back much further than the last couple of years however.

THINKING ABOUT THIS FOR A LONG TIME

Eddy Cue, senior vice president of services with 36 years at Apple, is a long-time board member of Ferrari -- where Stefano Domenicali, now chief executive of Liberty Media-owned Formula One, was team boss from 2008-14 -- and a lifelong F1 fan.

"I already knew Stefano very well... but knowing and having our team and their team working that closely together for a long period of time (with the movie) I think gave both sides confidence of the kinds of things that we could do together," he told reporters after the deal was announced.

"But yes, I've personally thought about this for a long time."

Tommy Baker, a friend and associate of Ecclestone since the 1981 Long Beach Grand Prix, told Reuters he had a meeting in London in August 2016 with Cue and the now 94-year-old.

The American said they discussed a 12-part 'From The Grid' show Baker had pitched after a failed previous attempt to produce an F1 lifestyle series in the 1990s, with Ecclestone supportive.

"Apple was ready to go with it in 2017... they were going to buy the NBC rights for the Formula One broadcast in the States and have this as a tag-on show for a few years as they built towards their streaming," he told Reuters.

NBC held the U.S. rights from 2013 to 2017, before ESPN took over.

"That show was way in advance of 'Drive to Survive'," added Baker, referring to the Netflix docu-series credited with turbo-charging Formula One's popularity with a new and younger audience.

"At the (October 2016) Mexico Grand Prix... we had a bunch of people from Apple touring the event for production. They wanted to, one month later, film a pilot (for the series) in Abu Dhabi that they then wanted to air."

Baker said they were guests of Red Bull but with access to Ecclestone's office.

Chase Carey, who would become Ecclestone's replacement after Liberty's takeover announced in September 2016, was also in attendance and asked the Briton who the six individuals were.

"Bernie goes 'Oh, they're a fruit company'," recalled Baker. "He didn't want them immediately exposed to Chase and everyone getting confused."  

Ecclestone was shunted aside in January 2017 and the proposed series was never made.

A well-informed Formula One source told Reuters "there was no near deal".

Ecclestone, contacted at his home in Switzerland, told Reuters he had known Baker 'forever' and had no problem with him talking about the episode.

"He was the one that got involved with Apple and got me involved in as far as what I could do to help them," said the Briton, who later introduced Apple to former Liberty Media chief executive Greg Maffei.