Cadillac confirmed that Graeme Lowdon’s departure from the leadership of the Formula 1 team was not a joint decision. Cadillac CEO Dan Towriss stated that it was his choice to promote the change, announced this Wednesday (12) along with the arrival of Marcin Budkowski to the position.
Read more F1: Vasseur sets rule for Hamilton and Leclerc at Ferrari
Lowdon was informed about his departure this morning, after nearly four years involved in building the team. According to Towriss, the change had been discussed for months and was related to the next phase of the project, not directly to recent results.
“It was my decision. It was not a mutual decision,” said Towriss. The executive explained that the process started a few months ago, when Cadillac began to evaluate what the next stage of the project should be, what the right moment for the transition would be, and what capabilities would be necessary.
The choice happened during the current August break, a period that Towriss considers appropriate to start a new phase of development. According to him, after nearly four years building the team alongside Lowdon, the time has come to ‘pass the baton’ to someone who will lead the next stage.
Read more F1: Mekies praises McLaren in Hungary, but says: «We’ll see how it performs on another track»
The CEO also denied that recent problems directly caused the change. Cadillac retired both cars at the Hungarian GP and has nine retirements from Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, besides not having managed to surpass the 13th place obtained by Bottas in China, but Towriss stated that ‘I wouldn’t say it was the performance or the problems in recent weeks’.
Despite the change, Towriss made a point of recognizing Lowdon’s work and rejected the idea that he held the position only provisionally: “I don’t think it’s fair to say he was here on an interim basis,” he concluded.
The executive highlighted that the two spent nearly four years planning, building, and putting into operation the different elements of Cadillac’s Formula 1 project, which is in its first year in the category.
Read more F1: New Cadillac boss has already been called the «Polish Adrian Newey»
