Exclusive: Sacrifices and 'barrel scraping' - The journey of McLaren's new star

Sacrifices and having to "scrape the barrel" for funding, McLaren's new Formula E driver Taylor Barnard has had to work for everything in his motorsport career. 

Every opportunity has been capitalised on by the 20-year-old, who will partner Sam Bird next season after being promoted from his McLaren reserve and development driver role. 

FE's newest rookie is an exciting one, with a glimpse of his potential having already been seen earlier this year in Monaco and Berlin. 

In Monaco, a crash for Bird in practice which injured the veteran resulted in a last-minute call-up for Barnard to make his competitive debut, a debut which alerted the paddock of his raw talent. 

A stellar debut was followed in Berlin – Bird remained sidelined through injury – by becoming the youngest driver to score a point in the all-electric series.

His competitive appearances in Monaco and Berlin gave the Norwich-born driver a real taste of FE, which left him wanting more. 

"Obviously, having the little bit of experience that I had this year, I really enjoyed it," Barnard exclusively told RacingNews365. 

"And when I got the opportunity, of course, I took it with both hands. I'm really looking forward to what's coming."

Achieving the 'dream'

Alongside his McLaren role for the recently completed FE Season 10, Barnard competed in Formula 2 for AIX Racing. 

He became an F2 race winner in Monaco earlier this year, and has actually tasted success in almost every junior single-seater category he has competed in. 

ADAC F4, UAE F4, Formula Regional Middle East F4, F3 and, of course, F2, Barnard has been victorious in all of them. 

Prior to this, he had a glittering karting career and finished runner-up to Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the CIK-FIA Karting European Championship in 2020, where he competed for Nico Rosberg's karting outfit. 

Making it to a top-level world championship is no easy feat, regardless of budget. Of course, money helps, and that is something Barnard has not been able to rely on. 

The British driver has been forced to "scrape the barrel" for funding throughout his career, which makes the feeling of now being a professional driver in a world championship that much sweeter. 

In the current motorsport scene, stories like Barnard's of making it through the junior system on little budget are very rare, with the fact his "dream" has now come true still being "surreal" to comprehend. 

"Of course, I've had a bit of a tough career," Barnard continued. "I've not had much funding, so I've always been trying to scrape the barrel. 

"Obviously, to now be a professional driver, it feels absolutely amazing. I'm just really thankful to my parents and everyone that got me here, because this was always kind of a dream, and now that I'm actually here, it is kind of surreal still. 

"It's an amazing feeling."

'Family' goal achieved

With little funding, Barnard has relied on his talent and raw ability to navigate his way from karting to FE, as well as the support from his loved ones. 

As explained by the Briton, it is not just himself who has been forced to make sacrifices to reach FE, with his family having done the same but because they all had the same goal in mind. 

"I think as a family, the thing that we wanted the most is for me to be a professional racing driver," shared Barnard. 

"Not just me, but my parents and my sister as well, have sacrificed so much to be able to give me this kind of opportunity. 

"So to finally get a contract across the line, it was, yeah, I think we all reacted in the same way, and it was something very special for us."

It is not just Barnard's family who helped the Briton progress up the junior ladder, as a driver he will face next season also played a key role. 

Nissan's Oliver Rowland supported Barnard and was crucial in the young driver's progression from British karting to European karting.

"I think I have a lot of people to thank, and he's [Rowland] one of the main people that got me from British karting to European karting, and it gave me a bit of a platform," explained Barnard.

"To be racing alongside him now, it's quite a nice feeling to kind of feel like I made it. 

"But yeah, I think we know each other very well, and we'll work good together. I think it's good."