Cadillac have sacked team principal Graeme Lowdon and replaced him with Marcin Budkowski in what the US manufacturer claims is a “planned leadership transition”. Budkowski was previously the de facto team principal of Alpine between 2018 and 2022, having been at the FIA.
He takes over Cadillac halfway through the season, with the team yet to have scored a point during the first eleven rounds of the 2026 season.
Lowdon had been team principal of Cadillac since December 2024 and had overseen the team’s preparations for and arrival on the F1 grid, with the experienced drivers Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas. While Budkowski has spent the last four years doing consulting and punditry.
The pole has a quarter of a century of experience in the sport, having worked as an aerodynamicist at Prost, Ferrari and McLaren before heading the FIA’s F1 technical department. Following his stint at the governing body, he joined Renault for a year as joint team principal in a dual set-up alongside Davide Brivio in the 2021 season before leaving the outfit, and has since engaged in consulting and punditry.
Budkowski said, “Cadillac has an extraordinary foundation and ambition. 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. That means building an elite organisation with a winning mindset – driven, relentless in the face of setbacks, obsessed with detail and process, and able to execute with precision on race day.”
“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. It is a privilege to be leading Cadillac Formula 1 Team’s on-track efforts, starting in Zandvoort next weekend.”
He will be tasked with improving the team’s fortunes as they continue to adapt to the sport, with CEO Dan Towriss describing it as a “new era,” as they look to make progress towards the front.
Towriss added, “As we enter this new era for the Cadillac Formula 1 Team, 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.”
“We’re grateful to Graeme Lowdon for his leadership and the role he played in forming the Cadillac from the ground up. His contributions helped establish a strong foundation in our build-up phase, and we thank him for his commitment and wish him well.”
Though the team hasn’t scored points isn’t a major surprise; they have been hampered by reliability issues, with nine retirements. That has actually gone backwards as the season gone on; they have only managed to get both cars to the chequered flag at only one of the last seven races.
Cadillac currently use a Ferrari power unit, but General Motors is set to introduce a their own power unit at the start of 2029.
