5 key things we heard from Cadillac after their Team Principal change

While Formula 1 has been on its traditional summer break recently, there was news from Cadillac this week when it was announced that Marcin Budkowski would become the squad’s new Team Principal, replacing Graeme Lowdon with immediate effect.

It marks a return to the paddock for Budkowski, who most recently held the role of Executive Director at Alpine until 2022 and has also worked for teams including Prost, Ferrari and McLaren, as well as undertaking a stint with the FIA.

In the wake of his appointment, Budkowski and CEO of TWG Motorsports Dan Towriss spoke to a select group of media – and we’ve rounded up five of the key talking points…

‘Always the plan’ to change leadership

Lowdon – who was appointed Team Principal back in 2024 – had been a key figure in helping to build the brand-new Cadillac outfit, but Towriss has said that an eventual change in leadership was “always the plan”.

“Now is the right time,” he explained. “We're at this inflexion point, with the summer break coming here, and Cadillac has gone through this initial build phase – just reminding everyone that we built this team from a standing start.

“And now as we look at the development phase, there's a real opportunity here to build something new, which has always been our ambition, and I think that the change in leadership here fits that.

“While it's a short tenure from our first F1 season, Graeme and I have been building this team for nearly four years, and so it was always the plan to get it to this point and then really hand the baton off to someone else and set things in motion for this next stage of development.”

Towriss went on to clarify that the call was made by him to make the change now, as he shared an insight into the timeline of the switch which he concedes came “sooner than was expected”.

“It was my decision – it wasn't a mutual decision,” he said. “I think really the process started a few months ago to explore, really thinking about what the next phase for Cadillac Formula 1 looks like, what's the right timing, how would that look, and then the capabilities of the various folks out there.

“Obviously, we were delighted with the conversation with Marcin and how that relationship evolved. Graeme and I spoke this morning, so I think it is a very recent conversation from that perspective.”

What Budkowski’s priorities will be and how he will tackle reliability issues

After joking that his first priority will be “moving my stuff first to the UK”, Budkowski set out his plans in the role as he prepares to visit the factory next week before going to the Dutch Grand Prix. One of these tasks links to addressing the reliability problems that Cadillac have experienced during the first half of their maiden F1 season.

“My first priority is going to be to listen and observe in the factory because I need to meet the people, I need to understand how they work together, how the various individuals and departments work together,” he explained.

“But also throughout my F1 experience I know that when a team is suffering reliability issues, as Cadillac have during the first half of the season, it's a huge risk of creating a disconnect between the trackside operations and the factory, and that link needs to be very, very strong.

“That’s why I will share my first week between the factory and the track in Zandvoort, because I want to see both sides of the team and how they work together. I think that's going to be the short-term priorities.”

Alongside this, Budkowski intends to ensure that a long-term plan is in place for Cadillac, with the Pole admitting that getting results can take time.

“A lot of my focus will be on looking at how the organisation is structured, how it's working, are the right processes in place, and also where we want to get to, because you have to put a strategy in place in the long-term,” he said.

“And there's no more magic wand in F1 – that's long gone, and you can't just come in and wave a magic wand and suddenly make a car more competitive. It's hard work, it's a lot of people having to work together, work in the same direction.

“My focus will be to align the team in the right direction, give them a vision of the future, and make sure we spend our time, resources and money on the right things. That's going to be a combination of short-term and long-term objectives.”

Current plans for 2027 driver line-up

Amid continued ‘silly season’ speculation, Budkowski and Towriss were quizzed on the importance of keeping Sergio Perez onboard following rumours linking him to Williams – leading Towriss to voice his confidence that the Mexican will stay with them.

“Checo's been a tremendous asset to the team,” Towriss commented. “He's driven very well and certainly has pushed quite hard. I'm very confident that Checo is going to remain with Cadillac.

“We're not distracted by the Williams rumours for a second. We're very confident in the relationship here and that you're going to see him piloting the Cadillac F1 car.”

Towriss went on to downplay rumours of driver changes for the future, stating: “It's a great question – would a younger driver come in and push the team? It’s certainly something we think about.

“We've got two experienced drivers that we’re very happy with, that are pushing the team, and we’ll continue to push them, although the caveat that it’s Formula 1 and things can always change.

“There are no changes planned at the moment for ’27, but things can always change. But we are not looking to... I know there have been some rumours out there with some of the young drivers. They're not substantiated, so that's not something I would focus on. We're not focused on that at the moment.”

Budkowski echoed Towriss’ sentiments about Perez, adding: “I think it's important to have a driver like Checo on board. From what I know because of the conversations I've had with Dan, but also with other people from the team, he's not only been driving exceptionally well but he's been pushing the team very, very hard in the background.

“And that's to be expected from a driver like him, who's been at Red Bull for years and with the best. I think that's the kind of mindset that we want and that's also the kind of mindset that I will bring, so I'm sure we will be aligned completely on the mindset and on the drive.”

Budkowski reveals discussions with other teams for F1 return

While the announcement of Budkowski’s appointment might have seemed sudden, the Pole admitted that he did not receive a call “out of the blue” offering him the role, and that there were instead a “number of exchanges” with Towriss as well as people from General Motors.

Budkowski went on to state that he has had interest from other F1 teams during his time away from the sport, before explaining what made him say yes to this particular opportunity with Cadillac.

“I've had discussions in the past years with more than half of the teams on the grid, some of them more advanced, some less advanced,” he said. “But for me it was important if I come back to this kind of leadership role to be in a project that I believe in, and there's a few aspects to that.

“This project is very ambitious. It's backed by TWG Group, which is extremely involved in motorsport, and General Motors is one of the biggest car companies in the world, but with a lot of ambition and with funding, which wasn't always the case in my previous ventures.

“And also one thing that really, really made me very confident in joining is that all the people that I talk to, people who effectively will be in the board of the team and in the top leadership of the team, are motorsport people. They are people who live motorsport, who understand motorsport and who are very exposed to motorsport.

“I think that's very, very refreshing for me, because the conversation is completely different from the get-go. There's the ambition, there's the desire to build a strong team and eventually a competitive team and a team that will be able to fight at the front, but it's a real understanding of how challenging it is, of the timelines of the road ahead.”

Objectives for the second half of the season

In terms of the focus for the upcoming second half of the 2026 season, Budkowski reiterated his focus on getting to know the team, seeing what can be improved in the short-term as well as looking to the future.

A key priority remains to sort the reliability concerns, but the Pole stopped short at setting any specific targets when it comes to results.

“I'm not going to set any objectives in terms of points or Q2s, etc.,” he explained. “We're going to push very hard to squeeze every bit of performance, every thousandth of a second we have, and then the circumstance is that our expert drivers will have to deliver the last bit.”

Towriss agreed that reliability and performance will be important focuses – with a plan to bring upgrades that “won't distract from the ‘27 priorities” – as well as process and organisation.

“And then, with leadership changes, as well as the evolution of this team, it's going to be about culture,” he continued. “That's communication, that's leadership, that’s accountability, all the things we've talked about.

“But I think there's an opportunity to bring all those things together and to raise the bar over the remaining [half of the season], building momentum through the remaining half of ‘26, the back half of the season, which we hope will be a real springboard for us going into ’27, so those would be the priorities that I would lay out.”