Ferrari has confirmed the departure of its Formula 1 chassis technical director Enrico Cardile, who is set to join the Aston Martin team.
As Autosport exclusively revealed back in May, Cardile had long been targeted by Aston Martin as part of the Silverstone squad’s efforts to push up the F1 grid.
The Italian has a good reputation for the role he has played in developing Ferrari’s recent challengers, and will slot in to Aston Martin’s current technical structure – which is currently led by Dan Fallows.
It is understood that no firm start date has been agreed with Ferrari yet, with discussions on that front set to be conducted between the two squads.
Despite it emerging over the British Grand Prix weekend that Aston Martin’s agreement with Cardile was in place, Ferrari continued to insist that there was no change in its structure.
Asked directly after the British Grand Prix about Cardile’s position at Ferrari in light of the Aston Martin agreement, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said: “If Aston Martin want to communicate on something, I'm happy for them. But it's not our case today.
“He's part of the organisation. The role… You know the role of Enrico, he was the technical director on the chassis side.”
Pushed on whether he was still at the team now, Vasseur said: “Tonight, he's still technical director of the Ferrari.”
But just a day later, Ferrari has announced that Cardile has stepped down with immediate effect.
A short statement issued by the team said: “Scuderia Ferrari HP announces that Enrico Cardile is leaving the company, therefore relinquishing his role as Technical Director Chassis Area.
“After almost two decades with Ferrari, Cardile has handed in his notice and therefore, with immediate effect, and as an interim measure, the Chassis Area will be overseen by the Team Principal, Frederic Vasseur.
“Everyone at Scuderia Ferrari HP thanks Enrico for all his hard work over so many years.”
Cardile’s immediate departure will be a blow to Ferrari, which is facing a difficult moment in F1 with its latest upgrade having not delivered all that had been hoped.
In particular, a new floor that arrived at the Spanish Grand Prix has resulted in a return of the team’s high-speed bouncing problems – which has hampered its performance in recent races.
For last weekend’s British Grand Prix, Ferrari elected to go back to its older Imola-spec floor in a bid to eradicate the bouncing, but it is still hoping the latest upgrade can be reworked at some point in the future.
Cardile’s arrival at Aston Martin comes as part of a huge recruitment drive the team is working on. The squad recently announced that former Mercedes F1 engine chief Andy Cowell will be joining it in October as its new Group CEO.
Furthermore, the team is favourite to land the services of design legend Adrian Newey, who is currently weighing up what he wants to do after he leaves Red Bull in March next year.
