Enrico Cardile, Aston Martin’s new technical director, says “failure is not an option” and promises the team will do well in 2026 as it looks to fight for the championships.
Cardile joined from Ferrari this year to strengthen an already impressive technical department. He worked under team boss and CEO Andy Cowell and technical partner Adrian Newey. After significant investment in staff and facilities, expectations are high for the start of new regulations – including a new Honda factory deal – and Cardile says he sees next year only in a positive light.
“Excitement,” says Cardile about his thoughts for 2026. “Absolutely. Not just for our car. I’m looking forward to seeing the other ten cars, to seeing everyone’s performance, to know if we are in a good position and need to keep pushing to keep the lead or if we need to keep pushing to catch teams that are faster than us.
“It will be exciting… but it is also exciting now. Because we don’t know where we will be, nothing we do now can be enough. We cannot be satisfied with good results from a wind tunnel session or a successful weight reduction exercise because we have no reference.”
“That applies at any time, but especially at the beginning of a new cycle. Over the past few seasons, everyone has been able to see the gaps and know what they need to achieve to put themselves in a better position. Everything for next year is up in the air.”
“We’re going to do well next year. I just don’t know if we’re going to do well for the first race, the second, the seventh or whatever. What we have is dedication, focus and the confidence that it will be good. We have everything we need to do a great job. Failure is not an option.”
Having spent his entire Formula 1 career to date at Ferrari before agreeing to join Aston Martin a year ago, Cardile says copying other teams is not the blueprint for his new home. Instead, he says, Lawrence Stroll’s team must develop its own distinct identity.
“I think there is a difference in culture,” he said. “The objectives are the same: everyone is focused on winning, but the F1 team at Ferrari has a very long and stable history, with established processes and tools.
“Here we are still building these things. We have the new CoreWeave wind tunnel, the new simulator, and we have to work to realize the potential of these things. We also have to develop the processes within the company for the way we work, and build a lean organization that avoids waste.”
“It’s one of the first messages I gave to my team when I started: we need to find our identity and use our vision to shape the organization so it works the way we want it to work. It’s fine to take inspiration from other places, but copying the way it’s done elsewhere isn’t the way to go.
“We need to build something that is based on our strengths and allows us to work on our weaknesses. We want to be the reference, not a clone of the existing reference. You cannot just copy what someone else does, no matter how successfully he or she does it, because that means being a follower instead of a leader, and that is not the path to success.
“It’s a work in progress moving forward step by step. I have a clear vision and a clear plan, agreed with Andy Cowell, with Adrian Newey, with Lawrence, for what we need to do to improve the organisation.”
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