The A9 was supposed to replace the ageing A8 car, but it turned out to be worse than its predecessor.

Its lack of performance caused Dave Wass to quit Arrows.

At the Hungarian Grand Prix teammate Christian Danner raced the A9 but retired after 7 laps with rear suspension failure.

While this actually improved the performance of the new car, Arrows soon returned to running the older A8 for the balance of the season.

[2] Arrows finished the season in 10th place, with a single point, earned by Boutsen's teammate Christian Danner in Austria while driving the A8.