Cadillac: Why Lowdon axed suddenly and Perez’s future amid rival links

A week before Formula 1\u2019s return to action in Zandvoort, Cadillac provided the unexpected news of the sport\u2019s summer break by removing Graeme Lowdon as team principal and replacing him with former Alpine chief Marcin Budkowski. <p>The decision was taken by Cadillac F1 team chief executive Dan Towriss, who spoke to the media along with new recruit Budkowski soon after the surprise announcement to address some of the main questions surrounding both that significant change and other talking points at the sport's newest team mid-way through their debut season.</p><ul><li><strong><a href="https://www.skysports.com/f1/standings">F1 2026 standings</a> | <a href="https://www.skysports.com/f1/schedule-results">F1 2026 calendar</a> | <a href="https://www.skysports.com/f1/live-blog/12433/12466779/f1-news-rumours-and-gossip-formula-1-latest-updates-on-teams-driver-transfer-market-and-contracts">F1 Gossip Column</a></strong></li><li><a href="https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/ContentPromo" target="_blank"><strong>Download the Sky Sports app for expert analysis, best video & more</strong></a><strong>\ud83d\udcf1</strong></li><li><strong>Not got Sky? </strong><a href="https://www.sky.com/tv/sports?dcmp=Ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink" target="_blank"><strong>Get Sky Sports</strong></a><strong> or </strong><a href="http://www.nowtv.com/membership/watch-sky-sports?DCMP=ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink" target="_blank"><strong>stream with no contract on NOW</strong></a><strong>\ud83d\udcfa</strong></li></ul><h3>'A narrow window of opportunity' - why did Cadillac make Lowdon change now?</h3><p>While changes of team principal in Formula 1 are far more frequent than they used to be, with all teams except Mercedes changing their chief at least once since the end of 2022, mid-season exits are still not quite as commonplace as they are in football, for instance.</p><p>So the sudden nature of Lowdon's exit, which had not been the subject of any recent speculation, came as a surprise, particularly as Cadillac are just 11 races into their first season on the grid and had always warned they would likely be spending the campaign racing towards the back of the field.</p><p>Towriss said the plan had always been for Lowdon to eventually "hand the baton off to someone else" for the next stage of Cadillac's development but admitted "that the time for that change came sooner than was expected".</p><p>"I think Graeme and I always talked about that there would be a transition at some point," said team chief executive Towriss, who also runs TWG Motorsports which founded the F1 outfit with General Motors.</p><widget id="1"></widget><p>"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.</p><p>"What I didn't want to do was build something that's already been done, something that's old and then try to improve it.</p><p>"I think that the time for that change came sooner than was expected. I wouldn't say that it's the performance or the teething issues over the last few weeks. 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 matches the ambitions of ownership."</p><h3>Fixing reliability problems identified as 'urgent' task by new boss Budkowski</h3><p>While Towriss downplayed the significance of what he called the rookie team's "teething issues" on track in the timing of his decision to remove Lowdon, Cadillac's progress in their maiden season has clearly been hampered by reliability problems.</p><p>The team recorded just one two-car race finish in the seven races leading up to the summer break with overheating brakes proving to be a consistent issue on the MAC-26.</p> <widget id="2"></widget><p>Budkowski, who starts work at the factory on Monday, said that they needed to fix their reliability problems "very, very urgently" as it was compromising the team from getting the most out of the upgrade packages being brought to the track.</p><p>"There are also reliability issues that have marred the team in the first part of the season," said Budkowski.</p><p>"In some part it's understandable, it's a new team, it's a new group of people, they are learning together and they are failing together and failure is a part of learning in Formula 1.</p> <widget id="3"></widget><p>"It's not pleasant but these things have clearly prevented the team from understanding more because mileage at the end of the day, during a race, it's all data that you accumulate, it's all understanding of the car and I think that needs to be fixed very, very urgently.</p><p>"I'm sure there is determination in the team to do that but there will be a strong focus on sorting the issues we are having at the moment because otherwise there's no point in developing if you can't race the parts that you're bringing."</p><h3>Cadillac 'very confident' of keeping Perez despite Williams links</h3><p>While the US-owned team represents F1's first start-up for a decade, the outfit opted to ensure they had no shortage of experience behind the wheel for their first season by signing up Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, who have over 500 race starts and 16 grands prix wins between them.</p><p>Perez has outperformed Bottas so far on their respective returns to the grid with the Mexican veteran since linked with potential other drives for 2027, including Williams were Carlos Sainz to move elsewhere.</p><p>While aware of that speculation, Towriss is confident Perez will stay with them into 2027.</p><p>"Checo has been a tremendous asset to the team," he said. "He's driven very well and certainly has pushed quite hard.</p><p>"I'm very confident that Checo is going to remain with Cadillac and we're not distracted by the Williams rumours for a second.</p> <widget id="4"></widget><p>"We're very confident in the relationship here and that you're going to see him piloting the Cadillac F1 car."</...

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