The car was powered by the team's own 1.5 litre, 1500/4 straight 4 turbo engine, which was rated at about 820 bhp (611 kW; 831 PS) for the season.

[2] The team's main sponsor was German tobacco company West.

Martin Brundle had moved after 3 years at Tyrrell to be Zakspeed's lead driver, in a virtual driver swap with Jonathan Palmer, who had left Zakspeed after two seasons to drive for Tyrrell.

Brundle was joined by former Formula 3000 champion Christian Danner, who had moved from Arrows.

After using the 861 for the first race in Brazil, the 871 made its debut in Brundle's hands at the San Marino Grand Prix where he qualified 15th and scored 2 points for finishing 5th.