Cadillac has confirmed that the departure of team principal Graeme Lowdon was not a mutual decision. CEO Dan Towriss made it clear that the decision came from the American organization and that Lowdon was only informed on the morning of the announcement. The Brit, who played an important role in building the new F1 team in recent years, is being replaced by Marcin Budkowski, who was officially appointed on Wednesday.
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Cadillac made its F1 debut this season and after eleven Grands Prix still has zero World Championship points. This is not very surprising, given the lack of experience and the relatively short preparation time within the American outfit. Partly because of this, it was expected that team principal Graeme Lowdon, who was involved early in the project, would retain his position for the time being. However, it was announced on Wednesday that he is being replaced immediately by the Pole Marcin Budkowski.
Cadillac wanted to avoid media storm
CEO Dan Towriss made it clear during a press conference with Budkowski that he was the one who made the decision. “It was not a mutual decision,” Towriss confirmed. “The process started a few months ago – we really thought about what the next phase for Cadillac would look like and which people we wanted to involve.” According to Towriss, Budkowski’s arrival was deliberately kept out of the public eye as long as possible to avoid unrest within the young team.
“We were very pleased with the first conversation with Marcin (Budkowski, ed.) and how that relationship has developed,” he admitted. “Graeme (Lowdon, ed.) and I spoke this morning, so in that respect, it’s all still very fresh. But within Formula 1, we can’t just act freely. Just think about the media storm that would arise if we suddenly gave Marcin a tour of the factory or invited him for a meeting. That could seriously destabilize things. It may feel a bit abrupt now, but that’s how Formula 1 works.”
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Cadillac ready for a new impulse
Towriss denied speculation that Lowdon was only appointed as interim team principal. “I don’t think it’s fair to say he was here temporarily. It really depends on his performance and how things have developed. We certainly discussed that, including the extent to which we agreed or disagreed. What I can say is that I have enormous respect for what has been achieved. This has not been a temporary period for me and Graeme, but a process of almost four years, in which we planned, built, and put all the pieces of the puzzle in place.”
However, according to Towriss, now is precisely the moment to give Cadillac a new impulse, ‘given the circumstances within the sport and the team’. “Every transition in Formula 1 brings challenges,” he explained. “It is very difficult to keep something like this secret at all and to prevent countless rumors from circulating. But here we are. We are very grateful to Graeme for what he has meant to the team and we are very excited about Marcin’s leadership and what the future of Cadillac looks like.”
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