Ref. Editor

1980. The new decade brought a record number of entries for the start of the season. Expectations were high that the champions of ’79, Ferrari and Jody Scheckter, could be beaten. Enter Team Williams and Alan Jones - the new force in a bright new era for Formula One racing.

But it took the entire season before the victory was in the bag. Jones took the opening race, but then faltered. Brabham’s Nelson Piquet took advantage in the interim, completing a spectacular double in the Dutch and US GPs to lead the championship with two races remaining. It was up to Williams and Jones to pull out all the stops to seize the title.

Brunswick Films were one of the few producers filming Formula One in the days before global TV coverage and official season review videos. The previously unseen footage from their famous archive has been utilised to create a review packed with on-the-limit driving (including an in-car lap of Brands Hatch), great close-ups of the major personalities and intriguing paddock-side discussions that give the sense of a story unfolding as the season progresses – the story of ‘car wars’ and the battle between set-up, streamlining and engine power.

It all makes for a truly candid account of a pivotal year in this great sport.