Major breakthrough for Aston Martin as Adrian Newey's latest ally finds his way to the team 

Aston Martin has poached various members from the F1 paddock, and Ferrari's former chassis technical director, Enrico Cardile, has joined the fray at Silverstone. The 50-year-old is understood to work in congruence with Technical Director and team co-owner Adrian Newey, supercharging the team's preparations for the 2026 season.

Before the summer break last year, Aston Martin had announced that Cardile would become the Chief Technical Officer at the Silverstone-based squad sometime in 2025, as it worked out an agreement with Ferrari. The Maranello-based squad initially pushed for a year of gardening leave for its employee.

However, it was found that Cardile had gone against such roadblocks and started working with the British squad earlier than anticipated, violating the terms of the agreement. Ferrari subsequently took the matter to the court and won the case, ceasing any connections between its former chassis technical director and the Lawrence Stroll-owned team.

This judgment had prohibited Enrico Cardile from joining the team before July 18. But, with the stipulated duration ending a few weeks ago, the 50-year-old joined the team, as an Aston Martin spokesperson said:

"We are pleased that a resolution has been found and that Enrico can move forward with the team as we look to 2026 and beyond as our chief technical officer, leading our design and technical functions at the AMR Technology Campus." (via The Race)

Cardile is one of many influential paddock figures who joined the British team during the 2025 season, as Adrian Newey was relieved of his gardening leave from Red Bull in a similar way earlier this year.

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Adrian Newey is ready to take on the challenge of the 2026 regulations with Aston Martin

Aston Martin Technical Director Adrian Newey at the 2025 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco - Source: Getty

With Adrian Newey joining Aston Martin, many expect him to spearhead the team's operations heading into the 2026 regulations reset. The next year's regulations have two aspects, as both chassis and engine will be affected.

It appears to be a daunting task, even for Newey, as the design legend admitted the lingering regulations reset is slightly scary alongside Honda playing catch-up in the engine division (via Aston Martin):

"The other aspect of this is that, for the first time I can remember, we've got both the chassis regulations and power unit regulations changing at the same time. This is... interesting... and slightly scary."

"Next year marks the start of our works partnership with Honda. I've got a lot of trust in Honda and a huge amount of respect for them, having worked with them before. They took a year out of F1 and so, to some extent, they're playing catch-up, but they're a great group of engineers and very much an engineering-led company."

On the other hand, the Silverstone-based squad secured its biggest points haul of the 2025 season at the Hungarian GP with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll collectively scoring 16 points around the Hungaroring.