A week before the Formula 1 calendar heads back to the Dutch circuit at Zandvoort, Cadillac stunned the paddock by announcing a leadership reshuffle during the sport's summer hiatus. Team principal Graeme Lowdon was removed from his post, and former Alpine director Marcin Budkowski was installed as his successor. The change was confirmed by Cadillac F1 chief executive Dan Towriss, who appeared alongside the newly‑appointed Budkowski in a press briefing shortly after the unexpected news broke. Together they tackled the most pressing questions surrounding the abrupt shift and other hot topics that have surrounded the fledgling team midway through its inaugural campaign.
Although the turnover of team principals has become more common in recent years – every constructor except Mercedes has changed its boss at least once since the close of the 2022 season – mid‑season dismissals are still relatively rare compared with the turnover seen in sports like football. Consequently, Lowdon's sudden exit, which had not been hinted at in any recent speculation, caught many observers off guard. Cadillac was only eleven races into its debut on the grid and had consistently warned that it would likely be battling at the back of the pack while it built a foundation for future competitiveness. Towriss explained that the original plan had always been for Lowdon to eventually "hand the baton" to another figure as the programme matured, but admitted that the timing arrived sooner than anticipated.
"Graeme and I always knew there would be a transition point," the CEO said, adding that he alone made the decision. "When you look at what we are trying to create, there is a very narrow window to introduce something fresh and innovative. I didn’t want to spend time perfecting a concept that was already dated and then try to improve it later." He stressed that the move was not a reaction to the rookie team's recent on‑track growing pains. "It’s not about performance issues or the teething problems we’ve seen in the last few weeks," Towriss said.
"It’s about having a clear vision for the future, the speed of progress we need, and ensuring that aligns with the ambitions of our owners." Reliability has indeed been a major obstacle for Cadillac this season. In the first seven races before the summer break the team managed only a single event where both cars crossed the finish line, with persistent brake‑overheating problems on the MAC‑26 chassis hampering results. Budkowski, who begins his on‑site duties on Monday, warned that these reliability concerns must be addressed "very, very urgently" if the squad hopes to extract full value from the upgrade packages it has been developing.
"There are reliability issues that have plagued us in the first part of the season," he acknowledged. "Part of that is understandable – we are a new team with a new group of people learning together.
Failure is part of the learning curve in Formula 1. However, those failures have denied us valuable data. Every lap provides mileage, every finish provides insight, and without a reliable car we cannot gather the information we need to improve." Budkowski added that the team’s determination is strong, but fixing the mechanical gremlins must take precedence. "If we cannot race the parts we develop, there is no point in continuing to evolve the car," he said.
Cadillac’s driver lineup reflects the team’s desire to blend experience with ambition. The American‑backed outfit secured veteran racers Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas for its debut season, giving the squad a combined tally of more than 500 Grand Prix starts and 16 race victories.
So far, Perez has out‑performed Bottas, and his future has been the subject of speculation, with rumors linking him to a possible 2027 seat at Williams should Carlos Sainz move elsewhere. When asked about those whispers, Towriss was unequivocal: "Checo has been a tremendous asset.
He drives exceptionally well and pushes hard. I am very confident that he will stay with Cadillac, and we are not distracted by the Williams rumours for a second.
Our relationship with him is solid, and you will see him piloting our car for years to come." The team has also been linked to younger talent, most notably Brazilian prodigy Rafael Camara, the 21‑year‑old reigning Formula 3 champion who currently sits third in his rookie Formula 2 season and enjoys backing from Ferrari. While Towriss expressed satisfaction with the current experienced duo, he did not rule out the possibility of adding a rising star in the future. "We do think about whether a younger driver could inject fresh energy into the team," he said.
"At the moment there are no concrete plans for 2027, but the sport is fluid and things can always change. The rumors about young drivers are not substantiated, so we are not focusing on that right now." For Budkowski, the Cadillac role marks his first full‑time F1 appointment since leaving his executive director position at Alpine at the start of 2022. He remains a familiar face in the paddock thanks to regular appearances on Polish television. Over his career he has worked for five different teams and spent three years at the FIA, heading its technical department until 2017 before moving to Renault.
His background gives him a rare perspective on both the sporting and regulatory sides of Formula 1. General Motors, the American automotive giant that backs Cadillac, ultimately intends to develop its own power unit, and Budkowski’s experience on both sides of the regulatory fence will be valuable as the team navigates the evolving rulebook. When asked how the sport has changed during his four‑year hiatus, he observed, "The competition is ruthlessly intense. Every team is highly professional and the level of detail required is extraordinary.
The cost cap means you can no longer buy performance or buy your way out of a mistake. You have to be the best in every department." Towriss concluded by reiterating that Cadillac’s ultimate goal is not merely participation but victory. He highlighted the need to think both short‑term—solving reliability and extracting performance now—and long‑term, preparing for transformative trends such as artificial intelligence. "We want to build more than a team that simply shows up; we aim to create a winning organisation for the future.
The sport is undergoing huge regulatory changes and societal shifts with AI becoming more prevalent. That is just the beginning for Formula 1.
The teams of tomorrow will look very different, and we must evolve what we have today while anticipating what an F1 team will become in the years ahead," he said. The championship will resume after the summer break with a sprint weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix from August 21‑23, with every session broadcast live on Sky Sports.