Throughout the season the team struggled to correctly operate the new Pirelli tyres which were introduced for the 2019 season, even after a major upgrade package was introduced at the Spanish Grand Prix. A second upgrade package was introduced at the Canadian Grand Prix. Despite these changes the car continued to show pace during qualifying but displayed poor performance in race setup, as illustrated by Magnussen qualifying 5th in Austria, and starting from 10th but finishing the race in 19th behind the Williams of George Russell, who had started from the pitlane.