Cadillac surprised everyone after ending terms with Graeme Lowdon after the first half of F1 2026, as Dan Towriss explains the reasoning behind it.
With the F1 circus getting back into race mode post the summer break, Cadillac kick-started the news cycle by announcing the departure of team principal Lowdon and replacing him with Marcin Budkowski. The news came as a surprise considering that it’s been only half a season in American outfit’s first full season.
Former Manor boss Lowdon returned to the F1 grid with Cadillac, as he joined the American outfit even before they were confirmed to make it as the 11th team on the grid. He did the big job of getting everyone together as one team – including the drivers – and start the journey in the winter test to the first half of 2026.
Although the results haven’t come by for them thus far, with reliability issues popping up at most rounds, Lowdon did a fair job operationally at trackside. While there has been communication issues from factory to track, but it is part of a problem that any new F1 team would face in its first season.
As Dan Towriss says
TWG Motorsports’ Dan Towriss acknowledged the work done by Lowdon in getting everything together, but noted that it was always the plan to find a F1 team principal in long-term, especially someone who is from technical background. The American said that there were conversations about a potential transition, just that the timing wasn’t fixed.
As such, Lowdon was only told on the morning of the announcement. Towriss cleared that it was his decision and not a mutual one, which got expedited, much to Lowdon’s disappointment. The Cadillac boss explained that they wanted to start afresh with Budkowski at the helm, as soon rather than play the waiting game.
He felt had they went on a process with Lowdon and then spent time on changing it under Budkowski, it wouldn’t have made sense and delayed their targets. Also, Towriss didn’t want to drag the process and destabilise the functioning of the F1 team, which is why they kept it under wraps as much and announced quickly.
Here’s Towriss explaining his decision during an online media session:
Grateful of Graeme Lowdon’s work done to start the Cadillac F1 project
Towriss: “Yeah, just a huge thanks and shout out to Graeme (Lowdon) for his friendship, for his leadership and direction, especially through the entry process. Again, as many of you know that was a long and arduous process and Grame’s knowledge of Formula 1, of the regulations, his ability to recruit members to a team that didn’t have an entry, those are some of the challenges that we faced as a brand new entry coming into Formula 1.
“Having even less than a year to put all the final pieces together to show up on the grid or show up at the early season practise sessions and so there are a lot of accomplishments. We’re very proud of and very grateful to Grame for what he contributed to the team and now we say goodbye to Graeme and we look to this new phase with Marcin in terms of what Cadillac F1 will look like in the future.”
Did Lowdon know about transition, timing?
Towriss: “Yeah, no, I mean, I think Grame and I always talked about that there would be a transition at some point, that this decision was mine. I think there’s a very narrow window of opportunity, when you look at what we’re building and an opportunity to build something new and innovative. And what I didn’t want to do was build something that was, that’s already been done, something that’s old and then try to improve it.
“And so, I think, that the time for that change came sooner than was expected. But really, it’s, I wouldn’t say that it’s, the performance or the teething issues over the last few weeks, that it’s really about just having a clear vision on what we’re building in the future, the rate of progress and making sure that that matches the ambitions of ownership.”
Was Lowdon always taken in interim capacity?
Towriss: “Well, I mean, I don’t think it’s fair to say that he was here in an interim capacity. It really is a function of performance and how things evolved. And those are certainly going to be discussions that are going to be kept between Graeme and myself, as to where those aligned and where they didn’t align. What I can say is what was accomplished, I have immense respect for. And Graeme and I have been through a lot over, again, this isn’t an interim period for me and for Graeme. It’s almost a four-year period of planning and building and doing all the pieces.
“And so, it was the right time based on the circumstances that exist both within the sport and within the team. This is the right time and the right place to make that step going forward. And anytime we’re making a transition in Formula 1, as you guys know, it’s very difficult to keep it quiet, that there weren’t a myriad of leaks around that. But here we are again, very grateful to Graeme for what he brought to the team and very excited about Martian’s leadership and what the future looks like for Cadillac.”
When did the process start and when was Lowdon alerted?
Towriss: “Yeah, so again, it was my decision. It wasn’t a mutual decision. I think, really the process started a few months ago to explore what, really thinking about what the next phase for Formula One looks like, what’s the right timing, how would that look, and then the capabilities of the various folks out there, and obviously, we were delighted in the conversation with Marcin and how that relationship evolved. Yeah, so Graeme and I spoke this morning, so I think it is a very recent conversation from that perspective, but there’s no easy way to make this transition within Formula One.
“Can you imagine the press if, you know Marcin’s strolling through for a tour of the factory, or we’re having these conversations, it becomes destabilising at that point, and so it’s important to respect the purview of the leadership that’s in place at that time, and so it does compress the decision-making, the timeline, and how these things come together. It makes it feel more abrupt than it would be otherwise, but it’s, you know, it’s the nature of Formula One, and it’s the way it had to happen.”