The car proved to be very promising after the catastrophic 1999 season, but was too unreliable to score more than a handful of points-scoring finishes. Breaking the lap record in pre-season testing at Barcelona confirmed the car's potential. De la Rosa looked set for podium finishes at Hockenheim and the A1-Ring, but lost time after a spin in the former and suffered a gearbox failure in the latter. Verstappen also produced a number of impressive performances, including a memorable drive through the field in changeable weather conditions in Canada. His season culminated in fourth place at Monza. The A21 was also noted for consistently having amongst the highest straight-line speed of any car in the 2000 season. Both Verstappen and De La Rosa enjoyed driving the car, and both enthused about how fast it was, while Verstappen conceded that it was not at its best on high downforce tracks.