In order to complete the car in the short time available Herd had been forced to take a "British Standard"[4] conservative approach and held over more advanced features for the 701's 1971 successor, the March 711.

[8] The 701 was built around a "boxy and workmanlike"[3] bathtub monocoque chassis – constructed from L72 alclad aluminium[9] sheet with cast magnesium bulkheads – that carried the engine as a stressed member.

[11] Ahead of the car's forward bulkhead the brake cylinders, fire extinguisher system, battery and radiator were carried on a tray-like extension to the cockpit floor pan, constructed in lighter 20 gauge aluminium sheet.

These wings were fixed in position, braced with a steel tube that spanned their full width,[9] and carried adjustable trim tabs along their trailing edges.

Although the aerofoil shape was claimed at the time to produce "downthrust" and aid stability, Herd has since stated that in the turbulent air between the wheels they would only have been marginally effective.

[7] Following the pattern established in Formula One by Keith Duckworth for Colin Chapman's Lotus 49 of 1967, the engine was mounted behind the driver and formed a stressed component of the car's structure.

[9] The 701's rear suspension was a relatively conservative twin link and radius arm system, with coilover spring and damper units mounted outboard of the car's bodywork, in the airflow.

Double wishbone suspension was employed for the front wheels, which Herd described as "slightly unconventional for a current formula 1 car",[12] again with the spring and damper units mounted outboard.

Herd attributed his choice of the double wishbone system to a desire to overcome the suspension geometry compromises necessary to accommodate the increasingly wide front tyres of contemporary Formula One, while outboard shock absorbers – despite aerodynamic disadvantages – provided advantages in simplicity, cooling and stress management.

The wheels themselves were to March's own design and employed the single centre stud fixing method that Herd had pioneered on the abortive Cosworth four-wheel drive car of the previous year.

[4] This large, cylindrical tank was mounted vertically to the right hand side of the Hewland transaxle, filling the space between the right rear wheel, the gearbox and the wing.

In an attempt to develop the car and improve its handling the Tyrrell team made adjustments to the position of the suspension mounting points and added a damper to the steering system.

[18] During the 1970 season Ken Tyrrell became increasingly critical of the 701's shortcomings, in particular targeting the fact that the car was 70 kilograms (150 lb) over the mandated minimum weight limit.

In the early portion of the race Stewart's car led for many laps,[3] but this was largely owing to his opposition being impeded and put out of position due to a first corner spin by Jochen Rindt.

Siffert was running in the top ten in the early portion of the race, but while dicing with Jacky Ickx and Jean-Pierre Beltoise for fifth position he spun and crushed his car's right exhaust pipe.

[citation needed] Following the 701's promising if troubled debut, March Engineering and Tyrrell entered their lead drivers for the non-championship 1970 Race of Champions at Brands Hatch, two weeks later.

[citation needed] A month later four of the five cars entered in South Africa also appeared for the second World Championship round, the 1970 Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama, although Siffert failed to qualify for the race.

[citation needed] Amon's luck changed when the Formula One circus returned to England for the next non-championship race only a week later, for which the works and Tyrrell again only entered their number one pilots.

For the second race in a row Siffert was forced to stop as a consequence of fuel issues, but again he had completed sufficient laps to be a classified finisher, this time in seventh place.

After crossing the English Channel for the 1970 British Grand Prix a fortnight later, Amon and Stewart could not repeat their qualifying performances from the French race, and the team leaders lined up for the start in 17th and eighth places.

One place behind Stewart, starting from ninth, was Mario Andretti, returning to Formula One competition during a break in his North American schedule, again driving Granatelli's bright red chassis 701/3.

Touring car driver Hubert Hahne, with financial backing from Axel Springer,[3] had bought chassis 701/9 and entered it for the race, painted in a German silver livery.

Those who did qualify were Peterson in 18th, Cevert in 14th, Andretti in ninth, Stewart in seventh, Amon just ahead in sixth and, beating his team leader for the first time that year, Siffert in fourth.

Following his failure to set a competitive time at Hockenheim, Hahne had immediately started legal proceedings against the firm, claiming that he had been sold a defective car.

In June 1970 Rhodesian John Love bought a new March 701, chassis 701/10, to run for himself as part of his Team Gunston privateer outfit in the South African Formula One Championship.

Love took one additional second-placed finish, in the Rhodesian Grand Prix in September, but more often than not the car's poor handling and lack of reliability let him down and he failed to score any further points during the remainder of the 1970 South African season.

[citation needed] Charlton then equipped himself with a Lotus 72 for the 1972 South African season and Love realised that his two-year-old 701 was not going to prove a match for the more advanced car.

Frank Williams entered Henri Pescarolo for the 1971 South African Grand Prix, where he was joined by local John Love in his Team Gunston car.

Tom Wheatcroft had bought Chris Amon's regular 1970 car, chassis 701/1, direct from the factory, and entered Derek Bell for January's Argentine Grand Prix.

All of the March 701 cars built in 1970 survived their contemporary front-line racing career intact (to a greater or lesser degree) and eventually became valuable collector's pieces.