1981 March 9 'BBC Horizon' - Gentlemen, lift your skirts...

The 'Formula One' racing car is not really a car at all, it's an aerodynamic projectile on wheels. The most obvious feature of these 'WING' cars is a device called a 'skirt', that seals aerodynamic suction beneath the car, sticking it to the road. British designers have developed the skirt to a point where their cars are faster than the more powerful factory cars. The tiny 'Williams (Grand Prix Engineering)' team from Didcot won every championship last year with their skirted car. Now the Paris-based ruling body ('Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile' - aka 'FIA') of motorsport has banned the skirt and thrown this new technology into disarray. 'BBC: Horizon' spent the winter with 'Williams' and their 1980 'Formula One World Champion' driver Alan Jones. What is the essence of a modern racing car? How can they improve the performance for 1981 - with skirts lifted?