Aston Martin's new technical figurehead still on the sideline
F1 News
Enrico Cardile has still not started as F1 Chief Technical Officer at Aston Martin. As to when the former Ferrari chief can start, Aston Martin is also still unsure.
In 2024, Cardile was proudly announced by Aston Martin as the new F1 Chief Technical Officer. Cardile was until then employed at Ferrari, where he had been in charge of technical management since Mattia Binotto's departure.
The press release issued by Aston Martin at the time spoke of a partnership starting in 2025. ''I'm looking forward to joining Aston Martin Aramco. The ambition and desire are clear and it is a unique opportunity to be part of that journey. This is a personal and professional challenge and I look forward to working with the team to bring success to this iconic brand,'' Cardile revealed at the time.
When will Cardile start at Aston Martin?
Whereas Adrian Newey, who was only announced after Cardile, can start at Aston Martin as early as the first week of March, there is still much uncertainty about Cardile. Andy Cowell was asked about Cardile in Bahrain, but clearly dodged the question about a possible start date.
''We look forward to having thousand people working well together. We are looking forward to Adrian joining. We're looking forward for the dozens of new starters we have every month. I think it was 248 through the 2024 calendar year. Each team member having clear responsibilities, from Adrian, to myself and all the interns.''
So a real answer to the question 'when does Enrico start' didn't come, prompting that question to be asked again. ''Anyone else (have a question)?'', Cowell responded to that with a smile. When asked if everyone would be in in time to help on the 2026 car, Cowell also dodged the question: ''There is already a large group of people working on the 2026 car.''
Officially, Aston Martin did not yet make any statements about Cardile's start date either, and it is not doing so now. GPblog asked Aston Martin for a comment, but the team would not comment as it simply does not have a start date yet. Possibly held up by a gardening leave from Ferrari, which also previously held Laurent Mekies back from starting at Racing Bulls for a long time.
A long time in the meantime, though. Cardile was announced in July 2024 by Aston Martin as a reinforcement in 2025. As of the end of February, there is no clarity on the start date, let alone whether Cardile will be able to start anytime soon.