Cadillac Formula 1 team has a wealth of personnel on both sides of the Atlantic, and for the new Team Principal Marcin Budkowski, it is an area he is keen to learn more about in the first instance.
The Pole was sensationally revealed as the team’s brand-new Team Principal last week, replacing Graeme Lowdon in a shock move that surprised much of the F1 paddock.
Budkowski, a seasoned aerodynamicist with teams such as McLaren and Ferrari, will take up his place on the Silverstone-based squad‘s pit wall at this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix.
The former Alpine Executive Director, at the time of his unveiling, had not yet visited the team’s British base, a topical point of interest, given some rumours about a shift towards its US hub in Fishers, Indiana.
Budkowski comes into the job with an open mind and open ears, as he told media, including Motorsport Week, in his first session as Team Principal.
“My first priority is going to be to listen,” he said. “Honestly, listen and observe in the factory, because I need to meet the people – I need to understand how they work, how they work together, how the various individuals and departments first work together.”
“But throughout my F1 experience, I know that when a team is suffering reliability issues – as Cadillac had during the first half of the season – it’s a huge risk of creating a disconnect between the trackside operations and the factory, and that needs to be very, very strong in any Formula 1 team.
“That link needs to be very, very strong, so that’s why I will share my first week between the factory and the track in Zandvoort, because I want to see both sides of the team and how they work together.”
Budkowski: ‘It would be foolish not to look at the talent’ on American side of Cadillac operation
Cadillac’s resources appear to be strong as it navigates its early steps in F1, with Silverstone leading the operations with the Fishers base also backed up by other locations in North Carolina and Michigan.
For Budkowksi, it is key that he makes use of all the team across the four.
“There’s a lot of technical expertise in the US,” he said. “I mean, these guys are sending spaceships to Mars in the future! But I think there’s a lot more to leverage there on the US side.
“It’s not going to be immediate, it’s going to take some time, but I think it would be foolish not to look at the talent and the technical expertise that we have on the other side of the pond as well.”
Budkowski will try to take as much learning from his first week in charge as he can this weekend, as F1 returns from its summer break in Holland.
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