Ferrari has won a legal case that prevents Enrico Cardile from starting in his new role at Aston Martin until July, according to a statement from the Italian Formula One team.
Cardile left his role as Technical Director Chassis and Aerodynamics at Ferrari on July 8, ending a 19-year association with the constructor. Aston Martin announced the following day that he would be joining the team as Chief Technical Officer.
A start date for the 49-year-old had never been publicly revealed, though Ferrari has stated that an Italian court found that he had been illegally collaborating with Aston Martin before a non-compete agreement expired.
“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 18th,” the team’s statement reads.
“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.”
Aston Martin has not commented on the matter, saying in a statement that: “This is a matter between Enrico and Ferrari and their legal representatives in Italy, and the parties continue to be engaged in the process.”
Aston Martin team principal and CEO Andy Cowell, who replaced Mike Krack in the role in January, did not confirm a start date for Cardile when asked at preseason testing in Bahrain last week.
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“What we’re looking forward to is having 1000 people working well together,” said Cowell.
“We’re looking forward to Adrian (Newey) joining. We’re looking forward to the dozens of new starters that we have every month.
“So, we’re looking forward to having everybody together and working well as a team, each member having clear responsibilities, from Adrian, myself, down to interns working for us for 12 months in their degree.”
When asked if he expected everybody, including Cardile, to have joined the team in time to work on the 2026 car, Cowell again did not mention Cardile.
It is not uncommon for F1 staff to be required to complete a period of gardening leave upon leaving one team for another.
Aston Martin has been bolstered by the official arrival of Newey, who began his role as managing technical partner on Monday, despite resigning from Red Bull in May and agreeing to join the British team in September.
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Cardile’s signing by Aston Martin was part of its push to try and assemble an all-star technical group, with a view to achieving its goal of becoming the next great F1 team.
Adrian Newey, the most decorated and successful designer in F1 history, started work at Aston Martin on Monday with a deal that makes him better-paid than most F1 drivers. Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll is adamant he will offer good value for money.
Stroll has recruited Newey has part of a Championship push (Zak Mauger/Getty Images for Aston Martin)
Like Newey, Cardile was always going to struggle to make an impact on the team for the 2025 season. With the technical regulations now into their final year before a major change in the car designs for 2026, that is where Aston Martin — and all its rivals — target a step forward.
Being made to wait a little longer on Cardile will be frustrating for Aston Martin. The sooner he could have started and sunk his teeth into the 2026 project, the sooner he could have made an impact. At a time when the margins in F1 are so fine, and the rewards on offer for a good car in 2026 are enormous, given it could lock in an advantage that could take other teams years to overcome, getting your best minds on the project as early as possible is vital.
When he does arrive, Cardile will be a central part of the technical group working with Newey. With a new state of the art factory plus a works Honda engine partnership starting next year, the team is confident the building blocks are coming together to mount a future title bid.
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(Top photo: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
