Aston Martin focuses on identity: ‘Copying is not the path to success’
Enrico Cardile aims to establish Aston Martin’s own identity rather than importing processes from Ferrari.
"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."- Enrico Cardile
Aston Martin has big ambitions for the 2026 season, when Formula 1’s new regulations come into effect.
The team also strengthened its squad, bringing in many new faces, including master designer Adrian Newey.
Cardile is also one of the latest recruits, who joined from Ferrari this year after serving his gardening leave period.
The Chief Technical Officer of the team explained there is a 'difference in culture' between the two teams.
"The targets 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," he said on Aston Martin's website.
"Here, we're still building up these things. We have the new CoreWeave Wind Tunnel, the new simulator, and we need to work to exploit the potential of these things.
"We also need to develop the processes within the company for the way we work, building a lean organisation that avoids waste."
The Italian immediately ruled out copying others when joining the Silverstone-based team. "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 organisation so that it works the way we want it to work.
"It's fine to take inspiration from other places, but copying the way it has been done elsewhere is not the thing to do."
He explained: "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 can't simply copy what someone else is doing, however successfully they're doing it, because that means being a follower, rather than a leader, and that's not the route to success."
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In line with the rest of the team
The former Ferrari man explained that their vision is also aligned with owner Lawrence Stroll, CEO and team principal Andy Cowell, and master designer Newey.
Aston Martin is currently fighting for sixth place in the constructors' standings against Racing Bulls. After the Singapore GP, the Silverstone-based team is four points behind, with the team also largely focused on next year.
The team's world champion driver, Alonso, also explained he will make his decision on when to retire based on the car he has next year.
In Singapore, the Spaniard also commented his 'better than ever', explaining some of his performances today would not have been possible 20 years ago.
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