It was driven in both years by Michael Schumacher, who was swapped with Benetton in favour of Jean Alesi, and Eddie Irvine, who replaced Gerhard Berger.

The F310 proved to be a front-running car, but without the outright pace or superb reliability which led to the Williams FW18s dominating 1996.

The high cockpit sides were meant to aid cooling and aerodynamics but in fact had the opposite effect.

A new front wing assembly introduced shortly after Brawn and Byrne joined the team improved the package.

He was, however, unable to hold off a storming drive by title challenger Jacques Villeneuve; a botched attempt by Schumacher at defending his position ended up with him in the gravel, retired, and eventually disqualified from the 1997 season results.