After a disastrous start to the season which saw the cars almost fail to make the grid in
Australia, the team improved, hiring
John Barnard as Technical Director. The A18 was proven to be woefully unreliable, despite Walkinshaw's claims that he had wanted a simple and basic chassis design. Damon Hill stated in his autobiography that the car was good to drive but lacked downforce. Hill scored a point at
Silverstone, but the highlight of the year came at the
Hungarian GP, where he qualified third and led for most of the race. The failure of a throttle linkage component saw him drop behind
Jacques Villeneuve on the final lap, although second place was still a great success for the team. Diniz also scored two points at the
Nürburgring. The team eventually finished eighth in the Constructors' Championship, with nine points. driving the A18 at the
1997 British GP. OX11A engine that powered the A18. ==Complete Formula One results==