Major blow for Aston Martin as aero wizard's joining date delayed by months: Report

It is being reported that Enrico Cardile's joining date as the Chief Technical Officer of Aston Martin has been delayed by months. The Italian left the Ferrari F1 team during the middle of the 2024 season to join the Silverstone-based outfit in the 2025 season.

The Tuscan-born native joined the Prancing Horses in 2005 and was a part of the team's GT series before joining the F1 department in 2016 as the Head of Aero Development and earned a promotion a year later as the Vehicle Project Manager. The 49-year-old was influential in developing race-winning machinery, as he helped Ferrari finish P2 several times.

However, as reported by Corriere dello Sport, after initially agreeing that Cardile would start working with Aston Martin in the first months of the upcoming season, the Maranello-based outfit has apparently decided to block the move for a few months as the aero wizard serves his gardening leave.

Although the reason behind the delay in the switch has not been made public, it is rumored that Cardile will play a key role in the British team's 2026 project and could miss out on an important time in the process.

However, neither the Italian nor the two teams have confirmed nor denied these reports officially yet.

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Aston Martin driver analyzes the F1 testing for the British team

Aston Martin F1 driver Fernando Alonso stated that he had a short test at the Sakhir International Circuit in Bahrain from February 26 to 28 as the AMR25 encountered niggling issues throughout the three days.

Speaking on the team's official website, the two-time F1 world champion reflected on the 2025 challenger and said:

"I've had a short pre-season testing as we encountered a few small issues and the weather impacted our running a little over the three days, but it was the same for everyone. I haven't followed the results of the testing because we have just been focussing on our program during the test.

"We do have some positives with the new car compared to 2024, but there are still some things that we need to work on and improve as we prepare for Australia. We experimented a little with some mechanical changes during the test but the track conditions were not at their best. It's only testing and we won't know how everyone looks until Qualifying in Melbourne."

Andy Cowell, CEO and team principal, also echoed the 43-year-old's statements and added:

"Initial feedback from Lance and Fernando suggests we have made progress with the drivability of the car, but we have also discovered areas that could be better and need more focus."

Aston Martin could find it difficult to move out of the midfield in the upcoming season, with many suggesting that teams like Williams and Alpine have made a more significant jump than the British team.