Ferrari wins case, Cardile will not join Aston Martin until July

Enrico Cardile will have to wait a little longer before joining the Silverstone factory. Ferrari won the trial, held in a court in Modena (Italy), which prevents its former technical director from starting work at Aston Martin before the end of his "gardening" period. The Italian engineer, whose arrival at The Greens as new technical director was made official in July 2024, will not be able to start working with the British team until July 18, 2025, one year after signing with Aston Martin.

"The affair", if we can call it that, was revealed to the general public on March 1 by Italian daily Corriere dello Sport, who asserted that The Scuderia had decided to change its mind regarding Enrico Cardile's "garden leave". Initially expected at Silverstone before the start of the 2025 season, Ferrari has decided to review its plans and retain its former technical director until the end of this "gardening" period, i.e. until July 2025, to the great displeasure of Aston Martin and Lawrence Stroll.

Cardile " was already violating the non-compete agreement with Ferrari"

In court, Ferrari finally won its case: according to a statement from the Italian team published by the BBC, Enrico Cardile "already violated the non-compete agreement with Ferrari" and had already started collaborating with Aston Martin before the end of its "gardening" period. The Scuderia said the decision was taken by a judge in a court in Modena "a few weeks ago" and specifies that the objective of the relevant clause in Enrico Cardile's contract was "precisely to prevent other teams from F1 to gain an unjustified competitive advantage by hiring him earlier than expected, thereby causing irreparable harm to Ferrari."

For its part, Aston Martin said that this story was a "The matter is between Enrico and Ferrari and their legal representatives in Italy, and the parties continue to be engaged in the process. Therefore, we will not make any further comment. We will make an announcement in due course." This "victory" of Ferrari in court is obviously a huge snub for Aston Martin, since Enrico Cardile will not be able to work on the car 2026 before July, which is already well advanced in the design of next year's car.

A big stone in the shoe of Lawrence Stroll, who aims to win the world title in 2026 by taking advantage of the new technical regulations to climb the hierarchy. The Canadian businessman, owner of Aston Martin, will be able to console himself with the arrival of Adrian Newey, who officially took up his duties this Monday at Silverstone.

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