The perfect Car. The Biography of John Barnard.

[KR158]

Hi all,

I've just finished reading this, got through it in a matter of days, really enjoyed it. Truly an innovator the likes of which F1 (or any other branch of Motorsport) is unlikely to witness ever again. I started watching F1 in very, very late '92 & although I knew who he was I hadn't appreciated just HOW much he influened the course of the sport. Very much a unique character, this Book doesn't shy away from these "unique" character traits. A very different read to Adrian Newey's Book befitting their completely different characters. Worth a look.

[Equus]

Yes, agreed - I thought it was much better and more interesting than the Newey book.

And as you say, it doesn't shy away from the fact that he's a personality that I suspect most of us wouldn't wish to work with!

[KR158]

I got the impression that if you were on the "right" side of him he would encourage, nuture & support albeit in a very low key manner. However the Book amply highlights how incredibly easy it was to get on the wrong side as demonstrated by his nicknames (not TO his Face) "The Prince of Darkness" & "The Goldalming Scud". I was also suprised by his lack of interest in development, it was always (& apparently only) the next big thing, the next step change, once that had been achieved it was onto the next one, little interest in developing, refining or chalking up wins & Championships. A deeply committed family Man & a truly brilliant visionary but as you said, I think he would be incredibly hard to work for. Newey seems to have a huge amount of fun along the way & "appears" more of a People person. Still, I know that I'd love to meet Mr Barnard, a very, very interesting Guy no doubt.

Edited by KR158 on Thursday 20th August 20:55

[Equus]

KR158 said:

I was also surprised by his lack of interest in development, it was always (& apparently only) the next big thing, the next step change, once that had been achieved it was onto the next one, little interest in developing, refining or chalking up wins & Championships.

That's pretty typical of designers and design engineers everywhere (myself included), I think. Left to my own devices, I struggle to even finish the design before losing interest and moving on to the next one... that's what draughtsmen/technicians are for!

They're very different animals to Development Engineers or Race Engineers, and it's very, very seldom that you'll find someone that is even competent - much less excels - at both.

[KR158]

Hi,

Thank you for your insight. I can fully understand that mentality, the next project/ idea is always the most exciting one. I often feel the same, although I tend to be at the commisioning/end user end of the process. I should imagine the excitement that comes with a new idea, a step change in the top level, white hot World of motorsport must be incredibly hard to ignore. I suppose that I had always followed Newey's career i.e staying with Teams for longer periods of time always improving & refining so hadn't really fully considered other ways of working.