It’s the Formula 1 summer break, which typically means news reduces to a trickle, but we’ve got a stunner coming out of the Cadillac camp.
F1’s newest team has not had the easiest of seasons and is currently dead last in the standings.
Now, they’ve announced that they are parting ways with team boss Graeme Lowden and bringing in F1 vet and former Alpine executive director Marcin Budkowski.
“Marcin’s appointment marks another important step in the continued evolution of the Cadillac Formula 1 Team,” Cadillac Formula 1 Team CEO Dan Towriss said in a statement. “From the beginning, our goal has not been simply to participate in Formula 1, but to build a next-generation team capable of competing at the very front.”
No reason was given for Lowdon’s departure or whether it was his decision or the Indianapolis and Silverstone-based team’s.
Nonetheless, Towriss had kind words for the man tasked with building the upstart team.
“Were grateful to Graeme Lowdon for his leadership and the role he played in forming the Cadillac Formula 1 Team from the ground up,” he said. “His contributions helped establish a strong foundation in our build-up phase, and we thank him for his commitment and wish him well.”
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Sure, Cadillac is struggling hard. That was always to be expected, but it looks at this time that these aren’t just growing pains but full-on issues.
While outright pace has been an issue, reliability is an issue too. Sergio Perez has had four DNFs through eleven Grand Prix this season, while Valtteri Bottas has had four. That includes two races, the Austrian Grand Prix and the most recent Hungarian Grand Prix, in which both cars failed to finish the race.
This change is what the team needs, as a P10 finish in the Constructors’ standings is still very much within reach.
While the also-struggling Aston Martin managed to take a point in Monaco to take a 1-0 lead over Cadillac, gaining two points from a strong weekend or simply by staying on track in a race of attrition is not outlandish.
The only problem is that Aston Martin is looking better thanks to recent upgrades introduced before the summer break.
So, we’ll have to see if a different Cadillac hits the track when F1 returns for the Dutch Grand Prix (the last one for the time being) on August 23.
