Ferrari technicians sat down on the Tuesday after the Italian GP on September 11, and developed a rudimentary traction control system, which debuted in Portugal less than two weeks later.

Ferrari's major coup was signing reigning World Champion Prost from McLaren to partner Nigel Mansell.

Prost's development work helped the 641 chassis to be extremely fast and competitive, and he scored five wins, including a remarkable victory from 13th place on the grid in Mexico, and challenged his nemesis Ayrton Senna for the championship.

In the same race, Mansell outfoxed Gerhard Berger with a daring passing move at the fearsome Peraltada corner.

[5] Although the car occasionally struggled in qualifying, it appeared to have the edge on the McLarens in race trim, particularly at high-speed circuits.