Ferrari have won a legal case in Italy which prevents Enrico Cardile from starting work at Aston Martin as their new chief technical officer until July 18.
The Scuderia announced last July that Cardile had handed in his notice as their chassis technical director after 20 years at the team, with Aston Martin confirming a day later that Cardile would “join the team in 2025” in a newly-created technical role.
In a Ferrari statement issued on Tuesday, the Italian team said a Modena court had “a few weeks ago” ruled that Cardile was “already violating the non-compete commitment with Ferrari” and had to “immediately cease any form of collaboration with Aston Martin” until his period of gardening leave ends.
“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 18th,” read Ferrari’s statement.
“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 said in a statement: “This is a matter between Enrico and Ferrari and their legal representatives in Italy, and the parties continue to be engaged in the process.
“As such we won’t be making any further comment. We will make an announcement in due course.”
On Monday, Aston Martin welcomed legendary designer Adrian Newey to the team for the first time after his switch from Red Bull.
Newey has joined as managing technical partner and the signing represents a huge coup for the team as they bid to take advantage of F1’s big 2026 rules overhaul to compete at the front of the grid for the sport’s biggest prizes, when they will be powered by Honda works engines for the first time.
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Craig Slater sits down with new Aston Martin chief Andy Cowell to discuss his new role, Adrian Newey and his aspirations for the new season and beyond.
Former Mercedes engine guru Andy Cowell, who joined the team last October, has taken on team principal responsibilities ahead of the new season in addition to his group chief executive officer role.
Aston Martin have finished fifth in the Constructors’ Championship in each of the past two seasons, although are targeting fresh improvement this year after scoring a third of the points last season compared with 2023 when they claimed eight podium finishes.
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