Deputy team boss Claire Williams has revealed a “mixed bag” of emotions at Williams after a stronger start to the 2020 season.
After spending most of last year welded to the back row, the Grove-based team got both drivers into Q2 for the first time since Monza 2018 last weekend in Hungary with George Russell qualifying 12th for the second straight race.
Unfortunately, a weak race pace has meant the Briton has slipped back down the field again on the Sunday, but to be in touch with the rest of the grid still marks a solid step forward for Williams.
“There are quite a lot of emotions as you might imagine because we have been through the mill for the past couple of years,” Claire told the F1 Nation podcast.
“It’s been extraordinarily painful… and don’t forget we were also given a beating while we were down as well by some people, and it has been really difficult.
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“The emotions are running quite high at the moment, and they’re a mixed bag of them.
“Relief, clearly, is flooding through the team. We did promise that we were going to deliver improved performance this year, and I’m so pleased that we managed to deliver on that promise, it was very important to us,” she added.
“The excitement is back, the adrenaline is back, sitting there watching the cars go out and knowing that they can do something other than come last in quali and last in the race.
“You quickly forget after two years what that does feel like.
“I just feel we can all hold our heads up a little bit higher because it’s never nice when you’re down and to have to try and keep holding your head up is difficult.”
All of this also comes as Williams continues with their “formal sale process” as they look for new investment to secure the team’s future.
“There is not a whole lot more news other than to say the process is going well and we’re really happy with the interest that we’ve received and the quality of that interest has been really strong as well,” the daughter of team founder Sir Frank Williams told Formula1.com earlier this month.
“It’s a process and it’s going to take a little while to go through that. As and when we can make an announcement, we will.
“We’re looking forward to it, it’s going to set Williams up really well and in conjunction with the new regulations coming through next year, in particular the new financial regulations, it’s going to put Williams on a good footing for hopefully moving forward to much better times for the team.”
