(Motorsport-Total.com) – The separation from team principal Graeme Lowdon was “not a mutual decision,” says Cadillac CEO Dan Towriss and emphasizes: “It was my decision.” Lowdon, who had painstakingly helped build the racing team, was therefore relieved of his duties by Towriss.
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Cadillac surprisingly announced the separation from its previous team principal on Wednesday afternoon. Lowdon is being replaced by Marcin Budkowski, who had a similar role at Alpine and was also employed as technical director at the FIA before working as a TV expert in recent years.
“The process began a few months ago: We really thought about what the next phase for Cadillac in Formula 1 looks like, what the right timing is, how the whole thing should be designed, and what skills the various candidates on the market bring,” explains Towriss.
“We were excited about the talks with Marcin and how this contact developed.”
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Lowdon was spoken to by the American only on the morning before the decision and was informed of it. “So from that side, it was a very short-term conversation. But there is no easy way to carry out such a change in Formula 1. Can you imagine the press if Marcin had stopped by for a factory tour or had these talks?”
“At this point, it becomes destabilizing, and that is why it is important to respect the role of the leader who is in office at this time,” Towriss continues. “That of course compresses the decision-making process, the schedule, and the how. It makes it seem more abrupt than it otherwise would be. But that is the nature of Formula 1, and there was no other way.”
Why right now?
Given the suddenness of the dismissal, questions naturally arise as to why the change was made precisely now after only half a year of Cadillac in Formula 1. Towriss was therefore asked whether Lowdon had only been working in an “interim role.”
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His answer: “I don’t think it’s fair to say he was here in an interim role. It is more a question of performance and the development of things. Where our views agreed and where they did not are, of course, conversations that will remain between Graeme and me.”
“What I can say is: I have immense respect for what has been achieved. For me and for Graeme, this was not a transitional phase, but an almost four-year period of planning, building, and putting all the puzzle pieces together,” he clarifies.
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For him, the step came “at the right time” based on the framework conditions within the sport and the team. “Whenever you make a change in Formula 1, it is – as you all know – very difficult. It is extremely hard to keep something like this secret without countless leaks. But now we are here.”
“We are once again very grateful to Graeme for what he has brought to the team and are very much looking forward to Marcin’s leadership and what the future holds for Cadillac.”
Although Cadillac was able to keep competitor Aston Martin at bay for long stretches in its first half-year in Formula 1, since their upgrade in Hungary the newcomer has again found itself at the back of the field competitively. So far, it is the only team that has not scored a point.
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