Cadillac replaces Lowdon with Budkowski as F1 team principal
Cadillac removes founding team principal Graeme Lowdon midway through debut season, appointing former Alpine boss Marcin Budkowski.
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Summary, timeline and people extracted by Claude from 17 items across 4 sources · 14m ago. Quotes are verbatim.
What to know
- Cadillac has removed founding team principal Graeme Lowdon and appointed Marcin Budkowski, former Alpine executive director, midway through the team's debut F1 season.
- CEO Dan Towriss framed the change as a planned evolution to the competitive phase, not a reaction to recent reliability issues; Cadillac has scored zero points in 11 races.
- Budkowski brings two decades of F1 experience across Ferrari, McLaren, Prost, the FIA, and Alpine, and will focus on organizational alignment and maximizing performance within the cost cap.
- The leadership transition occurs one week before the Dutch Grand Prix, when F1 returns from summer break on August 24–25.
How it unfolded
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Cadillac CEO Dan Towriss states the change is part of a planned evolution from the team's build phase to competitive racing, emphasizing the decision was not directly related to recent reliability problems with overheating brakes. He cites the opportunity to build something new rather than improve an existing structure.
“There's a very narrow window of opportunity, when you look at what we're building and an opportunity to build something new and innovative.”
Dan Towriss · Bluesky ↗ -
Budkowski, 49, a Polish-French engineer with experience at Ferrari, McLaren, Prost, and the FIA, emphasizes his focus on building an elite organization with winning mindset and improving decision-making speed.
“My focus will be on aligning our people, tools and information flow so the right decisions are made quickly, and the performance of the car improves every time we go racing.”
Marcin Budkowski · Google News ↗ -
Cadillac Formula 1 team officially announces the appointment of Marcin Budkowski as team principal, replacing Graeme Lowdon midway through the team's inaugural season.
What people are saying verbatim
“There's a very narrow window of opportunity, when you look at what we're building and an opportunity to build something new and innovative.”
Dan Towriss, Cadillac CEO · BBC Sport ↗
“It's really about just having a clear vision on what we're building in the future.”
Dan Towriss, Cadillac CEO · BBC Sport ↗
“My focus will be on aligning our people, tools and information flow so the right decisions are made quickly, and the performance of the car improves every time we go racing.”
Marcin Budkowski, New Cadillac team principal · Formula 1 official ↗
“Marcin brings exceptional F1 experience, technical expertise and strategic leadership that will strengthen our organisation and help us develop the winning mindset, tools and processes required for long-term success.”
Dan Towriss, Cadillac CEO · BBC Sport ↗
“This is a phase of huge opportunity for the team, one that will be defined by a clear objective: maximising car development within the cost cap and turning every team function on to compete.”
Marcin Budkowski, New Cadillac team principal · BBC Sport ↗