Cadillac abruptly terminates Lowdon; Budkowski steps in as his replacement.

      Cadillac has taken the Formula 1 community by surprise with the sudden dismissal of Graeme Lowdon as team principal during the summer break, replacing him with former Alpine leader Marcin Budkowski. CEO Dan Towriss accepted responsibility for the change, clarifying that Lowdon had not consented to leave. "This was my decision, so it wasn’t a mutual agreement," he confessed. "I spoke with Graeme this morning, so it was a very recent conversation, and transitioning this way is never straightforward."

      Towriss noted that the confidentiality surrounding high-level Formula 1 appointments made the abrupt change necessary. "Consider the media frenzy if Marcin unexpectedly appeared for a factory tour or if negotiation details leaked," he said. "At a certain point, this starts to destabilize the situation, making it vital to honor the existing management's position. Hence, the changes might seem more extreme than they could have been." He added, "But that's the nature of Formula 1, and it had to unfold this way."

      He dismissed claims that Lowdon's role was simply interim. "It's not fair to assume his position was temporary," Towriss stated. "It was entirely dependent on the results and how the circumstances evolved." Budkowski returns to Formula 1 after previously serving in senior roles at the FIA and Renault-Alpine. "In recent years, I’ve had discussions with over half the teams on the grid," he shared. "However, it was vital for me that if I returned to a leadership role, I wanted to be involved in a project I genuinely believed in. This project is truly ambitious. It's supported by TWG Group, a company heavily engaged in motorsports, and backed by General Motors, one of the largest car manufacturers globally, bringing both great ambition and significant resources."

      Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher perceives the management shift as possibly just the start. "Cadillac has now hired someone with experience, who has already worked in Formula 1 and for larger teams," he told Sky Deutschland. "I don't believe this will be the last change at Cadillac."