Ferrari has managed to gain the upper hand on Aston Martin just ahead of the 2025 season opener, which could have given the green team an advantage. Last year, it was announced that Enrico Cardille would join Aston Martin from the 2025 season. However, this has been delayed.
Recently, Ferrari won a court case that prevented Cardille from starting his stint at Aston Martin, thus delaying the work on Aston Martin’s 2026 challenger.
Ferrari blocks Enrico Cardille from joining Aston Martin early
Enrico Cardile, who served as Ferrari’s Technical Director, left to join Aston Martin as its Chief Technical Officer back in July. However, Ferrari asked Cardile to serve his ‘gardening leave’. Gardening Leave is the practice where the terminated employee is still bound to the contract of their former employer so that there are no breaches of information.
However, Cardile was already violating the agreement he signed with Ferrari, which could have caused serious harm to the Prancing Horse’s chances at the championship.
🚨| Ferrari is reportedly blocking Enrico Cardille’s entry to Aston Martin. He is required to complete 12 months of gardening leave before leaving the team from Italy. 👇https://t.co/ykUvNpNgKc
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) March 3, 2025
“With reference to the recent news regarding the timing of Enrico Cardile’s arrival at Aston Martin, Ferrari clarifies that a few weeks ago the Court of Modena, upholding the requests of the Company, ordered Enrico Cardile to immediately cease any form of collaboration with Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team until next July 18.” stated Ferrari.
“In this urgent procedural phase, the Court of Modena found that our former employee was already violating the non-compete commitment with Ferrari, whose purpose was precisely to prevent other F1 teams from gaining an unjustified competitive advantage by hiring Cardile earlier than allowed, causing irreparable harm to Ferrari,” added Ferrari.
Ferrari has won the court case, which prevents Enrico Cardile from working with Aston Martin until July 18, 2025, which will put a dent in Aston Martin’s plans.
How will this affect Aston Martin’s 2026 car development?
Enrico Cardile is meant to work in tandem with Adrian Newey to develop Aston Martin’s 2026 challenger. However, after this delay, Newey will have to work alone for the majority of 2025. Aston Martin won’t be getting Cardile’s insights on the development, which can put a damper on the team’s chance at the championship next year.
🚨 | OFFICIAL: Adrian Newey will join Aston Martin on a basic salary of £20m, rising to £30m with bonuses.
Do you think this will help Aston Martin win a championship? #F1 #Formula1 pic.twitter.com/PFEUAQdjrO
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) September 10, 2024
The Silverstone-based team has already stated that they will not get involved in the matter between Ferrari and Enrico Cardile. The team will make an announcement about the same in due time.
Aston Martin has a strong opportunity to win the Championship in 2026. They have Adrian Newey, one of the greatest car builders in F1, along with Honda, who currently supply Red Bull with their championship winning engines. While this matter can hurt their chances, the team has all the resources it needs to put up an amazing fight for the top spot in 2026.
Although Cardille will not be able to contribute immediately, he will be allowed to join Aston Martin in July. So he can still contribute to the designs of the 2026 challenger. Do you think Adrian Newey and Enrico Cardille can help Aston Martin win a Championship? Post your thoughts in the comments section below.
