(Reuters) – Ferrari have won a court case that will prevent their former chassis technical director Enrico Cardile from joining Formula One rivals Aston Martin until halfway through the 2025 season.
Cardile’s signing, as chief technical officer, was announced last July by Silverstone-based Aston Martin without a starting date being given.
Ferrari said in a statement on Tuesday that “a few weeks ago” a court in Modena had ordered Cardile “to immediately cease any form of collaboration with Aston Martin Aramco F1 team until next July 18.
“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 teams from gaining an unjustified competitive advantage by hiring Cardile earlier than allowed, causing irreparable harm to Ferrari,” it added.
Aston Martin said it was a matter between Cardile, who has spent 20 years at Maranello, and Ferrari and legal representatives in Italy.
“The parties continue to be engaged in the process. As such we won’t be making any further comment,” Aston Martin said in a statement.
The July 18 date comes after the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, round 12 of the 24-race calendar, and with work on Aston Martin’s 2026 car sure to be well under way.
Adrian Newey, Formula One’s foremost designer, started work at Aston Martin on Monday after leaving Red Bull and will be steering the 2026 efforts for a team switching from Mercedes to Honda engines.
Formula One rules prevented teams from starting aerodynamic work on their 2026 cars until the start of January.
Aston Martin were fifth overall last year while Ferrari were runners-up.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Christian Radnedge)
Comments