Ex-Ferrari star FINALLY joins F1 rivals as official switch complete

Former Ferrari F1 technical director of chassis Enrico Cardile has finally been released to join up with Adrian Newey at Aston Martin.

As part of their push to try and become a world championship-challenging outfit, Aston Martin signed design legend Newey and Ferrari aerodynamicist Cardile in mid-2024, but both men had to honour periods of gardening leave with their old teams.

Newey then joined Aston Martin as their managing technical partner in March this year, and has got straight to work on the team's 2026 challenger.

However, Cardile has been stopped from teaming up with the Silverstone-based outfit because of a legal battle with Ferrari, where they took the Italian to court surrounding the length of gardening leave he would need to serve.

Now, the former Ferrari aerodynamicist has finally joined Aston Martin as their new technical director, working under the F1 legend that is Newey.

Alongside team principal Andy Cowell, Aston Martin are now hoping this new team of personnel can bring them success in the vitally important 2026 season, and beyond.

It means that out of the senior team that begun the 2024 season for Aston Martin, only engineering director Luca Furbatto remains, with everybody else either being integrated into a new role, like Mike Krack as chief trackside officer, or leaving altogether.

Aston Martin's world championship push

Aston Martin now seemingly have all the pieces of the puzzle to be able to form a championship-contending outfit.

Lawrence Stroll has the ambition and the funds as team owner to push them towards that target, Newey has claimed 25 world championship titles across spells with Williams, McLaren and Red Bull, and the team will also be supplied by Honda power units from 2026.

On top of this, Cardile gives their technical department a really strong look to it, with now 66-year-old Newey likely needing more support as he embarks on yet another new project.

On top of this, Aston Martin also have a highly-experienced, two-time world champion driver in Fernando Alonso, who Newey has always admired and wanted to work with.

2026 will be the first time in his career that Alonso will drive a Newey-designed car, and two of the most experienced heads in F1 will hope that they can drive each other towards yet more success.

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