Barnard: Matrix management does not work in F1

Barnard was part of McLaren in the eighties, his radical designs helping them to become the mighty force that led to multiple titles for Niki Lauda and Alain Prost while going a long way to establishing the Woking outfit as the second most successful F1 team in history.

These days McLaren are at their lowest level ever, as a result the team is in the throes of a revolution which has seen staff come and go at all levels while Zak Brown implements his new regime which includes Indycar ace Gil de Ferran, while the likes of Eric Boullier were shown the door.

A couple of months ago Barnard spoke out about the matrix management system being used by Formula 1 teams and likened reviving McLaren like turning an oil tanker.

Speaking to ESPN recently, Barnard repeated and elaborated on his views, "My fear has always been that Formula 1 needed more pyramid structure of management not these sort of management systems used in big organisations, which I commonly referred to as matrix management. I just don't think that works in Formula 1."

"I think it started many years ago actually, long before Eric Boullier came into it. I think they've been lacking that technical leadership for some time. I don't know Eric Boullier so it's hard for me to say what his background and what his capabilities are, but he came from Renault as sporting director. He's not, to me, not the sort of person that can sit on top of the technical group. So, yes, I think I they've probably realised that they need to change that structure and they've started."

Many question Brown's credentials to lead a team of such stature while bringing in respected but Formula 1 newbie de Ferran, whose only real experience of managing in the top flight was a brief and insignificant spell as BAR-Honda sports director in 2005 until mid-2007.

Barnard repeated that strong technical leadership is key, "You've got to have somebody that pulls all the different groups together. These days the teams are so big that you end up with groups of people working on different parts of the car and that includes the aerodynamics."

"I've actually heard - which I find hard to believe - that you've got a group working on the front wing area, a group working on the rear wing area, another group on the cooling area. Somebody's got to pull those things together and make the compromises - because there will be compromises from area to another - and that person is what I would call the chief designer/technical Director. Without that person, I just don't think you can end up with one direction: you've got different groups and they'll all be saying: well it's not my bit, it's the other guy's bit."

Clearly, Formula 1 has changed in the three or so decades since Barnard's glorious cars ruled the roost, "When I was involved you got involved in everything, every technical aspect really. I think the fact is the teams have got so big now, they've become just huge operations."

"It's turning an oil tanker. I think providing McLaren's sponsors, their owners, are prepared to keep putting the money in while [the team] get it turned around, and providing they can find the right people, find some good people, then they'll turn around, they'll get it back on track. That may take some time. When I was in it one of the problems was that if you didn't perform you didn't get the sponsorship and so you kind of withered on the vine."

"It's mega-money now. The whole thing of lots of small partners, I know for a fact that one of Ron Dennis's original theories was: I don't want lots of little stickers all over the car, I want one or two big spenders who can then have the car as they want. So that was his theory, that was his approach. If they've gone the other way on that, I don't know whether that's a good idea or not. Whatever brings the money in is the best idea," added Barnard.