Cadillac sack team principal Lowdon as Budkowski takes charge
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- Cadillac sacked team principal Graeme Lowdon on August 12, 2026, and named Marcin Budkowski his replacement, framing the change as a 'planned leadership transition' despite no prior public indication it was coming.
- Budkowski, 49, a Polish-French engineer, previously worked at Prost, Ferrari, McLaren, the FIA and Renault/Alpine, where he served as executive director before departing in 2022; his first race in charge is the Dutch GP at Zandvoort from August 21-23.
- Cadillac remains the only team on the 2026 grid yet to score a point across the first 11 rounds, with nine grand prix retirements between drivers Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas.
- Cadillac's reliability has deteriorated as the season has progressed, with both cars reaching the chequered flag at only one of the last seven races.
- Lowdon, appointed team principal in December 2024, oversaw Cadillac's build-up and arrival on the grid; CEO Dan Towriss thanked him for 'forming the Cadillac Formula 1 Team from the ground up.'
- Budkowski said his focus will be 'maximising car development within the cost cap' and aligning 'people, tools and information flow so the right decisions are made quickly.'
Why it matters: A team principal change in a debut F1 season is unusual and the 'planned transition' framing sits awkwardly beside the fact that Cadillac sits last on the 2026 standings with worsening reliability — nine retirements in 11 races and both cars finishing only once in the last seven. Budkowski inherits a cost-capped development push and a driver pairing of Perez and Bottas that must start converting finishes into points before ownership's 'compete at the very front' mandate looks credible.
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