His work was rewarded when drivers Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard finished first and second at the season-ending European Grand Prix.

The Ferrari team protested, stating that the brake-steer system was a violation of the technical rules, which banned four-wheel steering.

[1] In addition, the car had an early hybrid system that used brake energy to generate electrical power that was stored in batteries.

This power could then be deployed to run auxiliary pumps on the engine to combat parasitic losses, resulting in an extra 30 to 40 horsepower for a limited period.

[2] McLaren's dominance continued in the second race of the season in Brazil, before Ferrari started to close the gap from the Argentine Grand Prix onwards.

Häkkinen initially found the car to be nervous in testing due to a rearward biased instability, but this was corrected before the season started.