Barnard trained at Watford College of Technology and joined General Electric Company before moving to Lola Cars in 1968 as a junior designer, working on Formula Vee racers and sports cars. He befriended Patrick Head, who would later co-found Williams Racing. In 1972 Barnard joined McLaren's Formula One team, working alongside Gordon Coppuck on the Championship-winning M23 chassis for three years. He then moved to design the Parnelli Formula One racer with Maurice Philippe. His subsequent IndyCar work — particularly the Chaparral 2K in 1980 — brought international attention when Johnny Rutherford claimed victory in the Indianapolis 500.
Barnard joined McLaren in 1980 under new team principal Ron Dennis. His defining achievement was the McLaren MP4/1, the first carbon-fibre composite chassis in Formula One, built with Hercules Aerospace in the United States. The chassis's durability was demonstrated dramatically at the 1981 Italian Grand Prix when John Watson survived a massive crash at Monza uninjured; within months competitors had copied the design. During his McLaren tenure from 1980 to 1986, Barnard's designs underpinned Niki Lauda's championship in 1984 and Alain Prost's titles in 1985 and 1986, with McLaren winning 12 of 16 races in the 1984 season alone. He also pioneered the coke-bottle shaped sidepods in 1983 that remain characteristic of modern Formula One cars.
Barnard departed McLaren before the 1986 German Grand Prix and joined Ferrari, insisting on establishing the Ferrari Guildford Technical Office in England rather than relocating to Maranello — a decision that caused internal controversy. His second revolutionary innovation emerged in 1989: the semi-automatic gearbox operated via steering wheel paddles, introduced on the Ferrari 640. Nigel Mansell won on debut at the Brazilian Grand Prix. The gearbox also allowed Gerhard Berger to return to racing just two races after suffering severe burns at San Marino — possible because hand movements to change gears were no longer required. By 1995, every Formula One team had adopted similar paddle-shift gearboxes.
When Alain Prost was signed to replace Berger at Ferrari in 1990, Barnard chose to join Benetton as Technical Director, assisting chief designer Rory Byrne with the Benetton B190 and B191. The B191 incorporated the raised anhedral front profile pioneered by Tyrrell, which has since become standard across open-wheel racing. Nelson Piquet achieved his final Grand Prix victory in Canada with the B191. After completing the B192 — during which Michael Schumacher scored his maiden win in Belgium — Barnard departed following a financial dispute with team principal Flavio Briatore.
Barnard returned to Ferrari in mid-1993, establishing Ferrari Design and Development in Surrey. His 412T1B returned Ferrari to victory lane through Gerhard Berger, and the 412T2 gave Jean Alesi his sole career victory. However, as Michael Schumacher arrived and Jean Todt consolidated a design office in Maranello, Barnard — unwilling to relocate to Italy — found his position untenable. His 1997 F310B was his final Ferrari design; Schumacher's victory at the 1997 Japanese Grand Prix was the last for a Barnard car. Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn then took over the technical leadership.
In 1998 B3 Technologies worked with Arrows and the Prost team. Pedro Diniz's fifth place at the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix was the last points finish for a fully Barnard-designed car. Barnard remained as technical consultant for Prost until its demise in 2001, then moved into motorcycle racing as Technical Director for Team KR in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. He sold B3 Technologies on 29 February 2008. His biography, The Perfect Car, was published in 2018.
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