Barnard slams ’artificial’ American-style F1
"They’re too big and too heavy"
Legendary Formula 1 designer John Barnard has criticised the sport’s modern regulations, accusing its American-influenced approach to entertainment of making competition feel artificial.
The 80-year-old Briton, who pioneered carbon-fibre chassis at McLaren and introduced paddle-shift gearboxes at Ferrari, spoke to Corriere della Sera in Turin at the Mauto exhibition ’I Nemici del Drake’.
When asked whether he would enjoy designing today’s cars, Barnard was emphatic.
"No. They’re too big and too heavy."
"And I don’t like what the rules ask of the driver - lifting off the pedal in one corner to have a full battery in the next," he added.
"His job is to go as fast as he can, without thinking about these things."
His comments follow ongoing criticism of Formula 1’s complex 2026 power units after the embarrassing software-related starting problems at Sepang.
Barnard also questioned the sport’s increasingly unpredictable competitive order.
"It’s something constructed by the rules, driven by the American idea of spectacle - they want a new winner every two races."
"It seems a bit artificial to me."
"I’d like to tell them ’Let the cars develop. If someone finds an advantage, rest assured that the others will soon copy it.’"
Barnard believes the modern driver has less influence over performance, although Max Verstappen remains an exception.
"He counts less," he said. "But Verstappen always impresses me. He manages to squeeze out that extra second of time on the final qualifying lap."
"It’s the sign of a driver who has something special. He never gives up."
The former Ferrari technical director also raised eyebrows with his assessment of modern driver salaries.
"I don’t understand why drivers today earn so much. It’s the safest form of motorsport there is."