2025 is F1’s most polite title battle ever – Up/Down in Austria
Describing this year's championship race as a 'battle' might be slightly over-egging it, writes James Elson
He weaves magic from carbon fibre, whether revolutionising Ferrari in the ’80s or creating fabulous furniture today. Yet John Barnard refused to join the establishment – until it suited him
By Anthony Rowlinson
This is a tale of a beautiful idea, a beautiful mind and some beautiful Formula 1 cars. It’s also a tale of soaring ambition thwarted by the lowest politics; clarity obfuscated; passion quelled; inspiration, deceit, guile and cunning. It’s the story of John Barnard’s F1 adventure with Ferrari. Fitting, then, that more than a decade on from his last dance in scarlet, Barnard can be found in a beautiful place, filled with beautiful objects and people. Fitting, but also unlikely, for in the galleries of Established & Sons – a textbook-minimalist East End shrine to some of the world’s most expensive designer furniture – Barnard, dressed in low-profile jacket, slacks, shirt and loafers, looks, well, ordinary.
Nothing about this 64-year-old shouts ‘design guru’: no label enslavement, no F1-obligatory watch-of-ludicrous-expense. But if the attire gives few clues to what sets him apart, the table and chair at which he’s sitting say so much. Yep, that scalpel-sharp study in carbon composite that’s two metres long yet barely two millimetres thick at its edges – strong enough to bear the weight of an old Mini; cost £36,000 – is the work of J Barnard and his modern-day design partner Terence Woodgate.
Continue reading ‘Lord of the black arts’ from the June 2010 issue
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Describing this year's championship race as a 'battle' might be slightly over-egging it, writes James Elson
You had to read between the lines at the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix as George Russell dropped hints over about his dissatisfaction, and F1 sent a message to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem
From zero to hero: in a pacy McLaren, at one of his favourite F1 circuits, Lando Norris picked himself up from a disastrous Canadian race to reign supreme in the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix
Full F1 schedule for the year, including the next F1 race of 2025: the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the whole calendar and circuit guides for the 24-race Formula 1 season