Aston Martin announce new era after snatching key Ferrari F1 chief

Aston Martin F1 team have announced 'a new era', with their new signing from Ferrari giving his first exclusive interview with the team.

Having brought in Adrian Newey earlier this year, the Silverstone-based outfit are looking to become a championship-challenging outfit within the next few years, as new regulations enter F1 from 2026 onwards.

The groundwork for the 2026 project has been laid by team owner Lawrence Stroll over several years, opening up a new state-of-the-art facility and signing two-time champion driver Fernando Alonso to the team in 2023.

And now another piece of the jigsaw has been added, with former Ferrari technical director of chassis Enrico Cardile joining as the outfit's new chief technical officer back in August.

Now, Aston Martin have released an extensive interview with Cardile on their website, promoting the interview in a social media post with the caption 'a new era is coming'.

Cardile spoke at length in the interview about the team's ambitions, laying down a statement of intent for next season.

"Excitement, definitely," the Italian said. "Not just for our car. I'm looking forward to seeing the other 10 cars, to see everyone's performance, to know if we're in a good position and have to keep pushing to keep the advantage or if we need to keep pushing to catch teams that are quicker than us. It will be exciting.

"But it's also exciting now. Because we don't know where we'll be, nothing we do now can be enough. We can't be satisfied with good results from a wind tunnel session or a successful weight reduction exercise because we don’t have a reference. That's true at any time, but especially true at the start of a new cycle.

"For the last few seasons, everyone has been able to see the gaps and know what they need to achieve to put themselves in a better position. For next year, everything is up in the air.

"We're going to get it right next year. I just don't know if we're going to get it right for the first race, the second, the seventh, or whatever. What we have is commitment, focus, and the confidence that it will be right. We have all we need to do a great job. Failure is not an option."

Can Aston Martin win 2026 championship?

With a world champion driver, design legend Newey who has claimed 25 championships across his illustrious career, and now Cardile, Aston Martin look ready for a championship battle.

However, Newey has already warned that it may take longer than just the 2026 season for them to be able to compete with the likes of McLaren and Mercedes, and that progress will be steady.

This year, Aston Martin are currently sat seventh in the constructors' championship, but have already shown an upturn in form based on the first half of the season.

Alonso and his team-mate Lance Stroll are only currently contracted until the end of the 2026 season, and 44-year-old Alonso has already said that he will consider retiring at the end of next year if they spend 2026 challenging at the front, but that it will be harder to walk away if they're still a midfield team.

In 2023, Alonso claimed eight podiums across the season, but has not achieved one since, and has not achieved a race victory since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix.

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