 Despite the car's improved pace, unreliability proved costly throughout the season, with retirements at the British and Luxembourg Grands Prix occurring whilst Häkkinen was in the lead.With Newey able to take advantage of new technical regulations for , and with Williams losing their works Renault engines, McLaren were once again able to challenge for the championship; "F1 Racing" magazine stated that the only way to increase their championship hopes was to hire Ferrari's double champion Michael Schumacher.Häkkinen and Coulthard won five of the first six races despite the banning of the team's "brake steer" system, which allowed the rear brakes to be operated individually to reduce understeer, after a protest by Ferrari at the second race in Brazil.