The Perfect Car, the biography of Formula 1 designer John Barnard, written by Nick Skeens, has now been published.

The reviews are beginning to roll in. Octane describes the book as: “A great insight into this driven, fractious and brilliant race-car designer, and you’ll even become an expert in the carbon-fibre structures that Barnard pioneered.” The view of Motor Sport is, “A widely researched and very readable insight into one of the great, under-rated, F1 designers.”

A launch with media and old colleagues took place at the RAC in London on 21 June and is seen in the two accompanying photos. In the one below, John shares a joke with aerospace engineer Arthur Webb, who was one of his key allies in the design and construction of his pioneering carbon-fibre monocoque for the original McLaren MP4 of 1981.