By 1986, the Arrows team had accumulated two seasons of experience running BMW M12/13 turbocharged engines under the care of Swiss engine specialist Heini Mader. While the arrangement had produced some results with the A8 — most notably Thierry Boutsen's second place at the 1985 San Marino Grand Prix — the engines remained less powerful than those used by BMW's factory-supported partners. Against this backdrop, Arrows commissioned an all-new chassis to improve their competitive position.
The A9 was notable for being Arrows' first carbon composite chassis, a construction method that had become standard practice among leading Formula One teams. The monocoque was manufactured by British Aerospace, but production delays pushed the car's completion well behind schedule. By the time the A9 was ready to race, much of the 1986 season had already elapsed.
The delayed introduction meant the team had less time to develop and resolve the car's problems. The most serious issue was at the rear of the car, where the suspension and aerodynamic behaviour fell short of the A8's standards. Designer Dave Wass, dissatisfied with the car's performance and unable to resolve its shortcomings, departed Arrows as a consequence.
The A9 made its debut at the 1986 German Grand Prix with Thierry Boutsen at the wheel. It appeared again at the Austrian Grand Prix, and then at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where Christian Danner drove it. Across all three appearances, the A9 failed to score a point and failed to finish any race — retiring with turbocharger failure at Germany and Austria, and with rear suspension failure at Hungary after just seven laps.
In an attempt to extract better performance from the new chassis, Arrows briefly ran a hybrid configuration: the A9's new front end mated to the rear section of the older A8. This unusual combination actually improved the car's behaviour relative to the A9 in its standard form, pointing clearly to the rear end as the source of the problems. Despite this, the team found the exercise unviable as a long-term solution and reverted to running the A8 in its original specification for the rest of the season.
Arrows finished the 1986 season in tenth place in the Constructors' Championship with a single point. That point was scored by Danner at the Austrian Grand Prix — while driving the A8, not the A9.
The A9 is remembered as a rare failure of planning and execution for Arrows. Its brief, unproductive career underscored the risks of introducing a new car late in a season without adequate time for development, and the departure of Dave Wass marked the end of a design era at the team. The episode reinforced the value of the conservative but reliable A8, which continued to serve as Arrows' frontline car long past its intended replacement date.
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