Cadillac has announced a major change to its Formula One leadership, appointing Marcin Budkowski as its new Team Principal.
The Polish-French engineer replaces Graeme Lowdon, who helped build the Cadillac Formula 1 Team from the ground up and guided it through the first half of its debut season.
Budkowski certainly isn’t new to Formula One. He brings more than two decades of experience in the sport, having previously held positions with Prost, Ferrari, McLaren, Renault/Alpine, and the FIA.
Most notably, he served as Executive Director of Renault before helping oversee the team’s transition to Alpine. His varied career means he has experience across the technical, regulatory, and management sides of Formula One – something Cadillac will be hoping to make good use of as it looks to establish itself on the grid.
Cadillac says the change is part of a planned leadership transition as the team moves beyond its initial build phase and focuses more heavily on developing its on-track performance.
Cadillac Formula 1 Team CEO, Dan Towriss, thanked Graeme Lowdon for his role in establishing the team, saying his work had helped create the foundations for Cadillac’s entry into Formula One.
For Budkowski, the immediate challenge is clear: turn those foundations into better performance on track. He stated that one of his first priorities will be maximising car development within Formula One’s cost cap, focusing on aligning the crew, tools, and information so the performance of the car improves.
Budkowski will officially lead Cadillac’s on-track efforts when Formula One returns from the summer break at the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort from the 21st to the 23rd of August.
With half of Cadillac’s first Formula One season now behind it, this appointment signals the beginning of the next stage of the American team’s journey. The foundations have been laid; now the focus turns increasingly towards performance and moving up the grid.
