Antonelli - the boy 'born in a garage' who became world champion

Once F1 had left Europe in the autumn of last year, there was a shift.

"Suddenly, we felt like we were making really good progress," says Shovlin.

"There were signs towards the end of the year. I'm not saying any of us thought we'd see what we've seen so far this year, but that we had a decent F1 driver."

Antonelli has been rather more than that this year. He took the season by storm, and established a consistent supremacy over Russell.

In the best car in the field, Antonelli took six poles and six wins in the first 11 races, establishing a 50-point lead in the championship.