Aston Martin can now officially welcome F1 design legend Adrian Newey into the team, but the same is reportedly not true for another key recruit.

On the eve of the F1 2025 campaign, Aston Martin’s future has now become reality as March 3 marks Newey’s official first day with the team.

Ferrari blocking Cardile to Aston Martin, claim emerges

It was ahead of the 2024 Miami Grand Prix that the shock news broke of Newey’s Red Bull exit, his involvement with their Formula 1 team – which he had been a part of since 2006 – ending there and then, with his tenure seen out working on the RB17 hypercar project.

Newey is regarded as one of the greatest designers in F1 history, his CV sporting title success at Williams, McLaren, and Red Bull, so it was little surprise to see him linked with joining almost every team on the grid following his decision to leave Red Bull.

Ultimately, the ambitious Aston Martin team was where Newey ended up, taking on the newly-created managing technical partner role and receiving shares in a team enjoying heavy investment from billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll, with World Championship glory the target.

However, while Aston Martin has now welcomed Newey in with open arms, a report from respected Italian publication Corriere dello Sport is claiming that Ferrari are stopping another key piece of the puzzle falling into place.

As part of a shake-up to the senior staff at Aston Martin, a deal was struck to bring in Enrico Cardile, Ferrari’s aerodynamics chief, to become Aston Martin’s new chief technical officer.

However, it is claimed in that Corriere dello Sport report that while Cardile was also meant to start work at Aston Martin on the same day as Newey – March 3 – Ferrari are trying to extend Cardile’s period of gardening leave for as long as they can, with Cardile’s Aston Martin arrival now not expected before July 17.

This, the publication claims, has left Lawrence Stroll ‘furious’.

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Nonetheless, Newey is officially in the building and his main initial focus is set to be the huge regulatory reset coming for F1 2026, when new chassis and power unit rules come into force.

And Aston Martin has Newey’s new office all set up for him, including his trusty drawing board, Newey famed for continuing to swear by pen and paper over full reliance on the modern wonders of technology.

Elsewhere in the Aston Martin ranks, Group CEO Andy Cowell is preparing for his first season as Aston Martin team principal, with former team boss Mike Krack moving to the chief trackside officer role.

Speaking to the media, including PlanetF1.com, about Aston Martin’s approach, Cowell said: “The organisation changes we made were really to make the existing organisation more efficient.

“Flatter organisations are naturally more efficient, there are less reporting lines, communication is quicker. There tend to be less reports written, less meetings, and so progress is made quicker.

“I guess some of that was with a view to Adrian coming, but most of it was just to improve the efficiency of our business.

“Everybody on site is excited at the thought of working with him, so when he arrives, there is a new office that’s large enough for a drawing board to go in. So that’s in place.

“We’re just excited to have Adrian on board, to work on the creativity of our race cars, to work on our methods, the tools that we use and how are we all going to lift our quality standards to the point that we make the fastest race car every year. That’s our objective.

“Last year, 248 new people joined Aston Martin Formula One Team, and it’s those people and all the existing people that together, working as a team, will create this great race car – and individuals like Adrian have got a great insight into the total car, but it’s all of us working together that will deliver a great car.”

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