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No, the mechanical grip in those years was severely lacking because of the tyres. They even looked hard, as if made of the same construction as you'd find on a cheap toy cars plastic tyres. Some drivers could not adapt to them at all as they had no feel and finding the limit was difficult. Remember, this was still the early days of grooved tyres (and narrow chassis) and, with no competition after Goodyear left, Bridgestone opted for safety first. The irony being that the tyres were actually quite dangerous to drive on, with the cars snapping out of control seemingly for no real reason sometimes.
It was only once Michelin returned that grip levels shot up and laptimes tumbled. The cars became easier to race, although this was soon negated by the vast improvements brought about by increasingly sophisticated aerodynamic development.
But trust me, 1999 and 2000 were truly horrendous, barring the noise the McLaren's made. I still look back with sadness at the 90 minutes of my life I lost watching the '99 Spanish GP.
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