The car was introduced two races into the 1990 Formula One season, scoring a point on its debut in the hands of Jean Alesi.

Postlethwaite was an experienced F1 engineer, having previously built race-winning cars for Hesketh, Wolf and Ferrari, and so was well placed to spot the shortcomings of his own design.

Taking the 018 as their base, Postlethwaite and Tyrrell Chief Designer Jean-Claude Migeot decided to try to improve the aerodynamic efficiency of the chassis.

What Postlethwaite and Migeot realised was that the efficiency of this low-pressure generating system was being seriously compromised by the low nose position at the front end of the car.

Nevertheless, as other teams experimented with the principle it rapidly became the norm for Formula One cars to sport a high nose cone.