John Barnard gained a diploma from Watford College of Technology in the 1960s and unlike many of his contemporaries he did not follow a lengthy academic career, instead choosing to join General Electric Company.
15 Facts About John Barnard
2.
In 1968 John Barnard was recruited by Lola Cars in Huntingdon as a junior designer and began working on many of the chassis manufacturer's projects, including Formula Vee racers and numerous sports cars.
3.
In 1972 John Barnard joined the McLaren Formula One team and remained for three years working alongside Gordon Coppuck on the design of the Championship-winning M23 chassis and other McLaren projects, including the team's IndyCar.
4.
In 1983, John Barnard pioneered the 'coke-bottle' shape of sidepods still visible to this day.
5.
John Barnard reasoned that it would allow more work to be done on designing the 1989 car without the distractions of the factory and the Italian press who had been known to be scathing on any Ferrari failures.
6.
John Barnard put a ban on the team's long-standing tradition of having wine at the mechanics' lunch table during testing, something that proved unpopular with the team's mostly Italian mechanics.
7.
John Barnard had instigated his second technical revolution, and by 1995 every team was running a copy of the Ferrari gearbox.
8.
John Barnard's injuries kept him out of the next race in Monaco, and would normally have kept him out for longer, but being able to make gear changes without his hands leaving the steering wheel he was able to return in Mexico, just two races after his crash.
9.
John Barnard helped design the Benetton B191 for the 1991 season, assisted by the team's new designer Mike Coughlan.
10.
Once more John Barnard was able to name his terms and opened a new technical office in Surrey named Ferrari Design and Development.
11.
From his UK office John Barnard began work on the 412T1B which ultimately returned Ferrari to the top of the podium at the hands of old team favourite Gerhard Berger.
12.
John Barnard continued to design Ferrari's Formula One racers for four seasons, including the 412T2; which took Jean Alesi to his only race win.
13.
The Arrows A19 scored the last points for a fully John Barnard-designed car when Pedro Diniz placed fifth in the chaotic and rain-soaked 1998 Belgian Grand Prix.
14.
Ultimately, John Barnard worked as a technical consultant for the Prost team until its demise in 2001 when he chose to move into motorcycle racing, becoming Technical Director of the Team KR Grand Prix motorcycle racing team.
15.
On 29 February 2008 John Barnard sold his company, B3 Technologies to 3 people, one of whom had previously worked for him, and moved into furniture design with leading designer Terence Woodgate.