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Cadillac makes shock boss switch as F1’s GM-owned team targets ‘new era’ Cadillac has split with inaugural team principal Graeme Lowdon, with former Renault boss Marcin Budkowski taking his place immediately. Lowdon’s shock departure comes just 20 months after he was appointed to the top of the nascent team and only 11 races into Cadillac’s debut Formula 1 season. The team did not give a reason for the abrupt change in management in an announcement made during what is typically part of the regulatory mid-season shutdown. Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship™ LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. “We’re grateful to Graeme Lowdon for his leadership and the role he played in forming the Cadillac Formula 1 team from the ground up,” team CEO Dan Towriss said. “His contributions helped establish a strong foundation in our build-up phase, and we thank him for his commitment and wish him well.” The General Motors-owned team described the switch from Lowdon to Budkowski as “a planned leadership transition”, though Lowdon was not quoted in the press release announcing his departure and was not listed to appear in a press conference scheduled later in the day. Budkowski, 49 years old, has been a familiar face in the Formula 1 paddock for more than two decades, having enjoyed stints working for Prost, Ferrari, McLaren, Renault and governing body the FIA. He was most recently a director of the Alpine team but quit the role in 2022 amid the brand’s waves of managerial convulsions as it struggled to travel on its ambitious title-winning trajectory. He has since worked as a pundit for Polish television. Cadillac described his acquisition as “strengthening the organisation’s leadership team as it continues its inaugural Formula 1 season” and “evolves from its initial build phase into the next stage of racing performance”. “Marcin’s appointment marks another important step in the continued evolution of the Cadillac Formula 1 team,” Towriss said. “From the beginning our goal has not been simply to participate in Formula 1 but to build a next-generation team capable of competing at the very front. “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.” Cadillac enjoyed a strong start to its first season in Formula 1, with the team immediately proving wrong those who were sceptical its cars could qualify for the opening race of the season in Australia after having received its formal F1 just 12 months earlier. The American-owned, British-based team has made steady upward progress from there, even moving ahead of Aston Martin in terms of pure pace before the more established team brought its game-changing upgrade to Hungary just before the break. But despite its underlying pace moving in the right direction, the team became mired in recent months by serious reliability issues, particularly with brake cooling. It got both cars to the chequered flag just once in the last seven grands prix, and it suffered two double DNFs from the last four weekends. It will start the second half of the season looking for its first Q2 appearance and first championship point. Budkowski insisted that the team was fundamentally strong and that it would be a “privilege” to lead it. “Cadillac Formula 1 team has an extraordinary foundation and ambition,” he said. “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.” Budkowski began his grand prix career as an aerodynamicist for the Prost team in 2001 before joining Ferrari the following season, where he contributed to the team’s history-making championship era. In 2007 he switched to McLaren, where he ascended to the role of head of aerodynamics in 2012 before leaving to join the FIA in 2014 to head up the governing body’s technical department. His decision to join the Renault team as executive director in 2017 was highly contentious among rival constructors for his three-month period of gardening leave, which many believed was too short for the amount of confidential information he could have had access to in his role with the governing body, Ultimately nothing came of the controversy, and Budkowski rose to greater prominence at the team as it rebranded to Alpine in 2021 before quitting the team in early 2022. His first race as team principal will be next weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix.