Enrico Cardile is facing a delay before he can officially begin his new role at Aston Martin, now pushed to July this year, due to a legal victory by Ferrari, his former employer.
Initially, Ferrari announced Cardile’s departure as their technical director in July 2024. Following this, Aston Martin revealed plans to bring him on board as chief technical officer in 2025. Yet, confusion around when Cardile could actually start his new job lingered—Aston Martin’s team principal, Andy Cowell, sidestepped questions about Cardile during pre-season testing. Now, Ferrari has clarified the situation, stating that a court ruling prevents the Italian from joining Aston Martin for another four months.
“We wish to address recent news regarding Enrico Cardile’s start date at Aston Martin,” Ferrari explained. “Not long ago, the Court of Modena sided with us, stipulating that Enrico Cardile must halt all collaboration with Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team until July 18th.” Ferrari adds that this action was taken because Cardile was already breaching his non-compete clause, designed to stop other F1 teams from gaining an unfair edge by hiring him prematurely, causing potential harm to Ferrari.
On the other side, Aston Martin’s spokesperson told the BBC, “The situation involves Enrico, Ferrari, and their legal teams in Italy. Discussions are ongoing, so we won’t be commenting further at this time. We plan to make an announcement later.”
Aston Martin had previously described Cardile as “a key appointment for the team” as they gear up for the 2026 regulations. However, his delayed arrival limits his immediate influence on developing the new car since teams have been allowed to start working on the 2026 regulations since January.
If Aston Martin wants to advance Cardile’s start date, they’ll need to negotiate with Ferrari again, an effort that hasn’t produced results yet. Meanwhile, the team welcomed another significant technical asset this week—Adrian Newey, who began working on Monday after transitioning from Red Bull.
