Cadillac CEO confirms Lowdon sacking was unilateral and delivered on the morning

Cadillac F1 CEO Dan Towriss has confirmed that Graeme Lowdon’s removal as team principal was entirely his own decision, with Lowdon only learning of the move on the morning it was publicly announced. Budkowski, the former Alpine executive director, was named as Lowdon’s replacement for the remainder of the 2026 season and beyond.

“It wasn’t a mutual decision,” Towriss said during a media roundtable alongside Budkowski. “Graeme and I spoke this morning, so I think it is a very recent conversation from that perspective.”

The announcement came during the summer shutdown of Cadillac’s debut F1 season — one in which the American outfit sits bottom of the constructors’ championship without a point after 11 rounds. That winless record was widely anticipated for a new entry, and Lowdon had been credited with building the team from the ground up over nearly four years of planning and preparation.

Towriss acknowledged the abrupt nature of the transition but argued that the confidential process of identifying a successor made a longer handover period impossible. “Can you imagine the press if Marcin strolled through for a tour of the factory?” he said. “It becomes destabilising at that point and so it’s important to respect the view of the leadership that’s in place at that time. 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 the nature of Formula 1.”

Towriss pushed back on suggestions that Lowdon had always been serving in an interim role. “I don’t think it’s fair to say that he was here in an interim capacity,” he said. “It really is a function of performance and how things evolved. What was accomplished, I have immense respect for. This isn’t an interim period — it’s almost a four-year period of planning and building.”

Budkowski has been working as a television pundit since departing Alpine in January 2022. His appointment signals a shift in direction for Cadillac as the team looks to move beyond its difficult first season and establish itself as a competitive force in the championship.