It was driven by Brazilian Pedro Diniz, who was in his second season with the team, and Finn Mika Salo, who had moved from Tyrrell to replace Jordan-bound Damon Hill.

Tom Walkinshaw had persuaded John Barnard to join the team as technical director the previous year, and he set to work on the next car.

However, the next race at Monaco proved the effectiveness of the chassis: on a circuit where engine power is not so vital, the cars were competitive and scored a double-points finish.

During the same weekend, Salo destroyed his car during the Saturday practice session at Eau Rouge and wrote off another chassis in the multi-car pile-up at the start of the race.

Discussions for a deal with Toyota came to nothing and with Barnard leaving in December and an attempted sale to Zakspeed falling through, Arrows were forced to soldier on in 1999.