Barnard is credited with the introduction of two new designs into Formula One: the carbon fibre composite chassis first seen in 1981 with McLaren, and the semi-automatic gearbox with shift paddles on the steering wheel, which he introduced with Ferrari in 1989.

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.

Further Indycar designs followed and in 1980 the Barnard-designed Chaparral 2K chassis took Johnny Rutherford to the prestigious Indianapolis 500 and the CART drivers title.

At the 1981 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, the strength of the MP4/1 was given a very public test when John Watson suffered a massive crash in his MP4/1 coming out of the second Lesmo turn.

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.

One such advantage of the new system was put to good use by Gerhard Berger after he suffered a fiery high speed crash at the San Marino Grand Prix.

His car hit the wall at the Tamburello curve at close to 180 mph (290 km/h) and with an almost full fuel load burst into flames, leaving the Austrian (who was knocked unconscious) with burns on his hands.

Despite his friendship and good past working relationship with Prost at McLaren, Barnard opted to leave the Maranello based team and join Benetton.

Seeking a new challenge, and relishing working again for a team based in England, he would be free from the Italian press, where the numerous failures during testing of the semi-automatic gearbox in 1988 had often made headlines, despite being minor.

After working for a short time on the stillborn Toyota F1 project, in mid-1993, Barnard returned to Ferrari, who were once more in a slump, having failed to win a single race since 1990.

From his UK office 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.

With Berger and Alesi removed, and reigning world champion Michael Schumacher installed as lead driver, team manager Jean Todt set about building a design office in Maranello.

Although no longer part of the team, the designer's F310B chassis took Michael Schumacher tantalisingly close to the title and his victory at the Japanese Grand Prix was to be the last for a Barnard car.

The Arrows A19 scored the last points for a fully Barnard-designed car when Pedro Diniz placed fifth in the chaotic and rain-soaked 1998 Belgian Grand Prix.