Ferrari’s Enrico Cardile heads to Aston Martin as Adrian Newey rumors swirl

Enrico Cardile is headed to Aston Martin.

While Formula 1 may be off this week, coming after a tripleheader that not only took the grid from Barcelona to Austria and then Silverstone but also offered plenty of surprises, the news is still pouring in. On Monday Ferrari announced that Cardile, who joined Ferrari in 2005 working on the GT side of the operation before moving to the F1 team in 2016, would be departing as the team’s Technical Director Chassis and Aerodynamics with immediate effect.

It had long been rumored that Cardile would be headed to Aston Martin, and on Tuesday that rumor was confirmed. Aston Martin announced that Cardile would be joining the team in 2025, following a period of gardening leave.

Cardile will become Aston Martin’s F1 Chief Technical Officer.

“I would like to welcome Enrico to Aston Martin Aramco as we look to reinforce the technical leadership team ahead of significant regulation changes in 2026. I am thrilled that we continue to attract world-class talent to our team,” said Aston Martin Executive Chairman Lawrence Stroll.

“Enrico shares my motivation to be successful in F1 and will have all the resources available to him to realise that ambition. Together with Andy Cowell joining as Group CEO in October and our existing leaders we are creating a formidable team.”

As noted by Stroll this is Aston Martin’s second recent addition to their executive team, as they announced at the start of the month that Cowell would be joining Aston Martin this fall as their next CEO. Cowell was most recently Managing Director of Mercedes High Performance Powertrains (Mercedes HPP) in 2013. He was a critical part of a team that dominated the sport’s V6 turbo-hybrid era, as Mercedes won both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships between 2014 and 2020.

He stepped away from Mercedes in 2021.

Of course, Cardile’s departure from Ferrari has led to increased speculation about whether this means an eventual move to Maranello by Adrian Newey. Ever since the legendary engineer and designer confirmed in May that he would be leaving Red Bull in early 2025, his next stop has been a matter of rampant speculation. In the wake of that announcement, Newey has been linked with almost every team on the grid, including both Aston Martin and Ferrari.

Many of those reports have linked Newey with Ferrari in a “super consultant” role, which could be more in line with what the F1 legend is seeking at this point in his career. Could Cardile’s departure lead to such an opportunity for Newey at Ferrari?

Of course, as outlined above Aston Martin was also in the market for Newey’s services, with reports surfacing that the team had made a massive financial offer to the legendary designer. Whether Cardile’s appointment as Chief Technology Officer acts as a bar for Newey, or opens up the possibility of Newey taking a similar “super consultant” role with the British outfit, remains to be seen.

We might not know for sure until the fall, at the earliest. Speaking ahead of the British Grand Prix Newey told Sky Sports F1 that fall ... or even winter ... is the deadline he has in his mind.

Or, perhaps, Jeremy Clarkson was right all along, and Newey is headed to Williams.