Enrico Cardile confident: “Aston Martin will be competitive in 2026 – failure is not an option”. Aston Martin CTO Enrico Cardile says the team will be competitive in 2026.

Enrico Cardile is convinced that Aston Martin will be among the front-runners in 2026, explaining that while he doesn’t know whether success will come at the first race or later in the season, he is certain it will arrive — because failure, he says, is simply not an option.

The former Ferrari man has no doubts

Aston Martin already missed its first major opportunity to reach the top of Formula 1 with the 2022 regulation changes. In 2023, Fernando Alonso delivered a stunning start to the season thanks to the technical influence of former Red Bull engineer Dan Fallows on the AMR23. However, the team’s early momentum faded as the season progressed, with updates that failed to deliver the expected performance gains.

For 2025, team owner Lawrence Stroll has made no secret of his determination to ensure Aston Martin enters the new regulatory era fully prepared and equipped with the best resources available. The team will benefit from an exclusive works partnership with Honda for its power unit supply, while its cutting-edge Silverstone facility now features state-of-the-art design tools — including the expertise of a certain Adrian Newey. On top of that, Aston Martin has secured a major addition from Ferrari: Enrico Cardile, who joined Maranello in 2016 as head of aerodynamic development and climbed the ranks to become Technical Director before moving to Stroll’s team.

Cardile’s vision for 2026

In a long interview published on Aston Martin’s official website, Enrico Cardile expressed full confidence in the team’s trajectory: “We will hit the target with our 2025 project,” he said. “I don’t know if we’ll be competitive at the first race, the second, or the seventh, but we are certain things will go well. We have everything we need to do an excellent job. Failure is not an option.”

Enrico Cardile described a mix of excitement and anticipation as the team looks toward 2026: “There’s great emotion ahead of 2026, not only for what our car will be but also to see the other ten cars and everyone’s performance. I can’t wait to find out if we’re in a strong position — whether we need to keep pushing to maintain our advantage or keep pushing to catch the teams ahead of us. We simply don’t know where we will be.”

He went on to underline the uncertainty that defines every new Formula 1 era: “Nothing we do right now can be considered enough. We can’t be satisfied with good results from the wind tunnel or a successful weight-reduction exercise, because we don’t have a clear benchmark. That’s true at any time, but especially at the start of a new cycle. In recent years, every team could see their weaknesses and understand what they needed to do to improve their position. For next year, everything is uncertain.”