Susie Wolff has heard every disparaging comment about women drivers and realises there is little she can do to silence the Clarksonesque contingent which exists in her chosen domain.

But what the 30-year-old Scot can control is the public's perception of the hard graft and unstinting commitment which she brings to her role as a test and reserve driver with the Williams F1 team.

Wolff and her BAFTA-winning brother, David Stoddart, have spent much of the last year co-operating on a documentary, The Fastest Woman in the World, which will be screened by the BBC tomorrow, just a few hours after the Australian Grand Prix has opened the 2013 campaign.

As fly-on-the-wall programmes go, their effort is very much a cut above the average. What emerges is a compelling picture of the all-consuming energy and enthusiasm which has typified Wolff's advance from beating the boys in karts to joining the sport's high rollers in the mould of the defending F1 champion Sebastien Vettel and former title-winners such as Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso. In that regard, Wolff is blessed with expertise and insight into how events might unfold in the months ahead of what should be a compelling struggle between the combatants. At Williams, she has worked alongside the emerging duo, Pastor Maldonado and Valtteri Bottas, and has spent hours in and around simulators, aero tests and studying telemetry.

Yet she has also kept tabs on the flurry of activity following Vettel's third successive triumph last autumn, with Hamilton joining Mercedes, Sergio Perez switching to McLaren, Alonso demanding an enhanced quality of car from Ferrari and Vettel discussing the possibility of eventually overtaking the seven world titles amassed by his compatriot, Michael Schumacher.

Understandably, therefore, Wolff thinks 2013 could be a vintage battle for supremacy and isn't afraid to voice her opinions on how things might develop.

"My feeling is that Fernando looks very strong. I think, for sure, that Red Bull, with Vettel in the cockpit, will always be a contender, but Alonso and Ferrari seem much stronger than they were at the start of last year so they will be in the mix," said Wolff, who is nobody's fool when it comes to analysing the strategies employed in the pre-season skirmishes.

"The only two teams who seem to be significantly better than they were 12 months ago are Ferrari and Mercedes. That said, it was widely reported that Red Bull were running heavy in the tests, so as not to give away any indication of their true pace. That happens, so one thing we can take for granted is that nobody will really know the genuine speed and potential of every car until after qualifying has finished in Melbourne. Even then, it will be the smartest, not just the fastest, who ends up on the podium.

"One point which will cause all the teams a massive headache this season is tyre performance. The tyres seem to be much less consistent than they were in 2012 and the drop-off is huge, which means that lap times are dropping by seconds as opposed to tenths of seconds. Everybody is aware of this fact, so it may mean more pit stops than we've previously seen. It could also mean race positions change massively, depending on who can best conserve and handle their tyres. Then, the fact that the weather during the tests was very cold means that in Melbourne and Sepang [Malaysia], the problems could be even worse, because the temperatures will be so very much higher. It adds up to a situation where the competitors will be stepping into the unknown and everyone will have to think on their feet."

In the last few days, matters at Williams have been somewhat complicated by the death of the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, an unfettered F1 aficionado who provided considerable largesse for his compatriot, Maldonado. Will this investment continue under Chavez's successor? The likelihood is it won't.

While this has heightened speculation that Wolff may be closer to realising her ambition of gaining a full berth on the Grand Prix circuit, the lady herself doesn't deal in hypotheticals. Instead, she insists she wants to advance beyond endless discussion of her gender and the lack of females in F1 and concentrate on how best she can assist Williams to improve their displays.

"Last year, despite [Maldonado] winning one race, we only finished eighth in the constructors' championship and our goal this time round is to climb to at least sixth place, so I want to talk about the team and not myself," said Wolff.

"As things stand, we are quite happy with our progress. It is clear we have two talented drivers who are going to push each other all the way and our aim is very much to have both in scoring positions at every race. Of course, I am thrilled by the challenge and I am incredibly excited to be travelling all over the world and doing my best to help the team rise up the standings. It won't be easy, considering how many new drivers and new combinations there are at so many of the organisations.

"But I am fired up for it. Once I pull on my helmet, it's not a question of me being a woman. I am a racing driver and that is all that matters."

The Oban-born luminary was in Glasgow this week and coping masterfully with the hype surrounding her new film. Given the opportunity, one hopes there is scope for a sequel if Wolff finally gains the chance she covets to lock horns with Lewis, Seb and Co. If it happens, we can be sure that she will be ready.