“So, trackside engineering spent a lot of time honing their processes. Because it’s so visual to everybody, everyone can see the pit stop crew were phenomenal, and that sets us up in really good stead. But equally, behind the scenes at the factory, there was so much work going on and I could see that.

“So as much as we were coming to the race, and it was just awful, it was going through the motions for us last year – we had to turn up so we turned up – we tried to take as many positives as we could from learning lessons at the racetrack and using it as a kind of test programme almost because we weren’t racing, and you’ve got to try and put a level of optimism on it.

But knowing what was going on back at the factory helped get through last year because we were doing a huge amount. We come to the race, be back in first thing Monday and be putting the foundations in place to make Williams much stronger from this year and beyond.”

Seeing the upgrade package introduced at last year’s German Grand Prix deliver a clear performance step was one of the more obvious signs that the sweeping changes were starting to have a positive impact. But behind the scenes, Williams had already seen improvements from an operations and manufacturing point of view, something that extended into hitting new car deadlines and better planning, such as booking contractors far earlier than in the past.

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But after a year of being the sport’s easy target, Williams couldn’t breathe out until the car finally ran on track and showed itself to be a step in the right direction.

If we hadn’t got it out, or we were on the time sheets four seconds behind, probably for me, that would have been it.

“I can’t describe what I felt. I had confidence that the car was going to be ready because we tracked the progress of it on a day to day basis. But it still felt like you were going to the biggest job interview of your life or go into something that was going to dramatically change your world, but you didn’t know whether it was going to be in a good way or a bad way.

“And that is how I felt because if we hadn’t got it out, or we were on the time sheets four seconds behind, probably for me, that would have been it. And that would have been very difficult obviously.

“I was 95 per cent there knowing that we were good, but never want to be complacent about these things. Getting on the plane home last Friday was much better than coming out on the Tuesday!”

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The deputy team principal reiterates she would have stepped aside had this year seen a repeat of 2019, but all of the signs from testing are of a car that – while it might well qualify on the back row again in Melbourne – is much improved and will be racing in the midfield.

It’s still a long way to get to where Williams wants to be and, to that end, the deep internal review that happened last year continues. But showing any sign of progress is crucial to the team’s health as it looks to secure its long-term future, and as the shoots of recovery grow, the deputy team principal is going to enjoy proving those who predicted there was no way back wrong.

“I do feel that people are always fairly quick to judge. And for whatever reason, there’s always had to be a whipping boy in Formula 1, and unfortunately, Williams have been the whipping boy for the past couple of years for probably a handful of reasons.

“For me, it certainly feels that we have put a bit of pride back in the Williams name, and we can hold our heads up a bit higher. Last year my head was down and it was all a bit shameful. This year, I do feel a bit like, ‘Do you know what? Thank you very much… We need your criticism, we need your support, and we’re enormously grateful for the people that did support us but it’s bloody hard work doing this. It’s not easy. Kicking people when they’re down, kicking whoever when they’re down, why do people do this to people? It’s extraordinary.

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“When people aren’t doing well, you should support them in their efforts because we were only trying our hardest. We are all only people at the end of the day trying to do what is an incredibly difficult job. So we were very lucky that a lot of people gave us space to do that, but a lot of people didn’t and were very quick to criticise.

“What I’ve always wanted to prove is that Williams are fighters, and that we are only here to go racing. Sometimes it’s not going to be easy, sometimes it’s not going to go well, but we feel that pain more than anybody. So just leave us be and get on with it because we will find our way out of the paper bag at some point, because we always have them and we always will do.

“I’m a Williams at the end of the day as well. My dad never gave up and I don’t give up. That’s not who I am. It’s not in my spirit. So I don’t really care if you like that or not. I care about my team and I care about what that team does on the racetrack. That’s all I care about. I don’t care about anyone else.”