After a lot of talk, Scuderia Ferrari announced this afternoon the separation from Enrico Cardile, now the former technical director of the Maranello team’s chassis department. The destination of the Italian engineer, barring any dramatic twists, will be Aston Martin, also a team undergoing technical and structural reorganization, and once his gardening leave is over, he will become responsible for the technical area.
The role left vacant by one of Mattia Binotto’s last technical members will be temporarily filled by team principal Frederic Vasseur, while waiting for Loic Serra, already hired from Mercedes, to finish his gardening leave on the 1st of October. Ferrari is also in the midst of a period of restructuring its technical department, which began over a year and a half ago with the arrival of the French manager.
Cardile leaves Ferrari at the worst moment
Enrico Cardile’s departure from Scuderia Ferrari, in the form of immediate resignation, comes at a very delicate moment in the Maranello team’s 2024 Formula 1 championship, especially after an aerodynamic update package that failed in every way and was ultimately rejected as Ferrari reverted to the Imola version of the SF-24 car in the latest round of the season, the British Grand Prix at the 5.891-kilometre Silverstone Circuit last weekend. In short, the Italian engineer doesn’t come out looking good, rather he looks a bit like a loser if we are to be completely honest. But aside from this, Aston Martin’s offer proved to be quite irresistible, as he will take on the role of technical director for an ambitious team, full of money, and with cutting-edge facilities, a team willing to do everything to return to fighting at the top.
The underwhelming performances of the SF-24 single-seater in recent races are certainly no accident: it has happened before with this technical group (more or less), as was the case in the 2022 Formula 1 championship, that after a great start, with the first major updates, the car took a step back, while in 2023 things went even worse, with a car that was designed terribly, then improved only to produce this year’s car, which at least as a base wasn’t bad at all.
Then came yet another cold shower for the Ferrari fans, as well as for the drivers, who were forced to set aside the latest updates fitted at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona due to the return of porpoising, which came back with a vengeance after two years in the fast corners. In short, they managed to create a real disaster again this year, a worrying regression that results in a significant loss of time in developing the 2024 Formula 1 car.
A new aerodynamic package seems to be already in the works, but it will take time before it can be installed on the car. It will be crucial not to repeat the same mistakes, also because the base of the 2025 car, a natural evolution of the SF-24, will be directly derived from the final version of this season’s single-seater, awaiting a complete change in philosophy with the 2026 Formula 1 regulations.
The rumors of the past few weeks have been the most varied. Italian aerodynamicist Enrico Cardile has accepted Aston Martin’s offer to be the head of the project for the car that is expected to compete for the title starting with the 2026 campaign, also considering the partnership with the “new” Honda. Moreover, between the completely renovated factory and the significant funds provided by Lawrence Stroll, any engineer would struggle to refuse this position with all these resources available.
However, there is something that doesn’t fit in the narrative many are making lately, and everything points to the name Adrian Newey. The English car designer, sought after and wanted by everyone, seems to have an offer of over 100 million from Aston Martin on the table, as well as an enticing proposal from Ferrari, and not only them, but also McLaren, Mercedes, Williams, and so on.
It is well known that there is an agreement between the Scuderia and the legendary engineer, and it is also known that the signature has not yet been placed at the end of the dozens of pages of the contract. This is because, according to the narrators, Adrian Newey might also say yes to Lawrence Stroll’s offer. However, if that were really the case, would Enrico Cardile have ever accepted this position? Let’s be clear: the strong impression is that the Italian engineer did not take kindly to the negotiations between Ferrari and the former Red Bull engineer.
Therefore, going to Aston Martin to be effectively subordinate to Adrian Newey seems objectively very difficult. Okay, the Brit would be a super consultant, whatever you want, but he would always be at the forefront of the team’s potential successes (and also defeats). For this reason, we believe, as always since this sort of soap opera began, that Adrian Newey is closer to Ferrari than to other teams. Is it worth it? Probably yes. Will there still be suffering in 2024 for Ferrari fans? Obviously yes, but everything has a price.
Source: FUnoanalisitecnica
