John Barnard (Ferrari, McLaren): “F1 is artificial; drivers are worth less”

Everyone today talks about the brilliant Adrian Newey as the best racing car designer of the past 30 years. His English compatriot John Barnard was, in a sense, the Newey of the previous generation.

Only two other men are in the same league: Lotus founder Colin Chapman and the South African Gordon Murray.

Barnard, who was born in London, is revered as a pioneering racing car designer. Fancy a few examples? A carbon-fibre monocoque, a ground-effect car in IndyCar racing, a semi-automatic gearbox with rocker-arm gearselector behind the steering wheel, a single strut for the rear wing, a ‘Coke bottle’ shape at the rear, side air deflectors (barge boards), engine mounting to the chassis with just four bolts, torsion bars instead of springs, and numerous improvements resulting from wind tunnel testing.

Barnard, now 80 years old, was recently invited by the renowned Turin Automobile Museum to be a guest speaker at the ‘Ferrari’s Rivals’ exhibition.

During the event, the Londoner spoke about the 2026 generation of racing cars, and the Briton is not impressed: “I don’t like them; the modern cars are too big and too heavy.”

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“I can’t stand what today’s rules demand of the driver – namely, lifting off the throttle in a corner so that the battery is fully charged later on in the lap. Surely the racing driver’s job should be to drive as fast as possible – without having to think about such things.”

Although the drivers now have to spend more time managing their cars, Barnard believes: “The drivers are worth less. Max Verstappen, however, never ceases to amaze me. He’s one of the few who can really squeeze every last bit of performance out of a car. And he never gives up, in any situation, ever.”

“Unfortunately, the whole of today’s Formula 1 sport strikes me as artificial. I also think it’s a shame that Grand Prix racing is governed by such a strict set of regulations that modern designers have hardly any chance of achieving genuine innovation. The teams should be given more scope to gain a real advantage.”

“Of course, it’s great to see the progress that’s been made, especially in terms of safety. But the question arises as to whether the sport hasn’t become too big and the cars too complicated. Besides, I don’t understand why the drivers earn so much.”

John Barnard: Celebrated, feared, sacked

For John Barnard is no easy man to get on with, as anyone who has worked with him can confirm. The Briton set the highest standards – for himself and for his staff – always with the aim of building the perfect racing car. His outbursts of anger have become legendary.

Even as a child, John wasn’t the easiest to get on with. Today we’d describe such behaviour as ‘behavioural problems’, and parents would be consulting a specialist to get it sorted out. Yet this boy simply possessed – for want of a better word – genius. When it came to producing a final project for their technical studies class, some pupils fumbled clumsily with a candlestick. John Barnard built a racing boat, much to his teacher’s delight.

Barnard landed his first job in motor racing with the legendary Lola founder Eric Broadley; he moved to McLaren for the first time (1972 to 1975), just as Emerson Fittipaldi became world champion.

Then came a spell in the USA: Barnard worked side by side with the industry’s greatest – Parnelli Jones, Mario Andretti, Johnny Rutherford and Jim Hall. The North American adventure ended in huge disappointment, as Barnard felt he was not valued.

Barnard returned to Europe and joined the new McLaren team, which was now under the leadership of Ron Dennis. Further titles followed in 1984, 1985 and 1986 with Niki Lauda and Alain Prost. Barnard had built the first carbon-fibre car. During this period, John was given the rather unflattering nickname ‘Prince of Darkness’. Staff still talk today about how their stomachs would turn just hearing Barnard’s car being driven onto the premises.

John Barnard succumbed to the lure of Ferrari and achieved what no one would have thought possible: the great Enzo Ferrari allowed a car to be designed in England. What was kept from the old man was that a rival car was being built in Italy. This is just one episode from the snake pit that is Maranello.

Benetton manager Flavio Briatore sweet-talked him, and Barnard moved to the English team, where Michael Schumacher claimed his first Grand Prix victory. But the Benetton chapter, too, ended in anger and disappointment, because Barnard was unable to deliver on what had been promised to him.

So back to Ferrari, where John Barnard laid the foundations for the Italians’ greatest winning streak. Barnard initiated developments that later helped Michael Schumacher to five consecutive World Championship titles.

Barnard’s Grand Prix career petered out rather unspectacularly: at Arrows and Prost, the brilliant designer was unable to fulfil his potential as he had hoped due to a lack of funding.