After leaving the Royal Masonic School for Boys, Harvey Postlethwaite attended the University of Birmingham, England to study mechanical engineering and graduated, with a BSc and then a doctorate, during the 1960s.

The following year he further developed the car's unusual rubber spring suspension and saw his creation take victory at the Dutch Grand Prix in the hands of James Hunt.

Postlethwaite went with his cars to the newly founded Wolf–Williams Racing, headed by Walter Wolf and Frank Williams, but the results were poor and the owners soon went their separate ways.

The 1982 126C2 Ferrari took the Constructors' title despite several serious setbacks, including the practice crash at Zolder which claimed the life of Gilles Villeneuve.

Despite leaving Sauber before the start of 1993, the designer's car went on to considerable success in the hands of JJ Lehto and Karl Wendlinger regularly scoring points.

Although by the late 1980s and 1990s Tyrrell was a small, and largely uncompetitive team, the designer remained well respected within the sport and was hired as technical director of the abortive in-house Honda F1 project in 1999.

The project was subsequently discontinued, although Honda began supplying engines again from the 2000 season onwards, eventually taking over the BAR team for 2006.