Cadillac team principal Marcin Budkowski: What he’s focusing on at Zandvoort

There is no doubt that Marcin Budkowski knows what to expect. After all, the engineer can look back on a long career in the premier class. He began his Formula 1 career in 2001 as an aerodynamics engineer for the Prost team, before moving to Ferrari, where he worked between 2002 and 2007.

From Maranello, he moved to McLaren, working in Woking between 2007 and 2014, before taking on the role of technical and sporting coordinator at the FIA, the world motorsport governing body, and eventually heading up the Formula 1 technical department.

He returned to the team side in 2017, initially serving as technical director for the French works team, before becoming sporting director of the Enstone-based team, which now competes in Formula 1 as the Alpine team. In 2022, he switched sides once again, this time moving into the media; as a technical analyst for the broadcaster ‘Viaplay’, he was a regular fixture in the paddock.

He is now taking on the role of team principal for the first time and will make his debut in this new role as early as the next race weekend at Zandvoort. When asked what he intends to focus on, he replied during a press conference: “My top priority will simply be to listen and observe, as I’ll first need to meet the people at the factory and understand how they work.”

Team spirit is crucial

“I know from experience that a rift can develop between the team at the factory and the one at the circuit when a team experiences reliability issues, as was the case with Cadillac in the first half of the season. That mustn’t happen; the link between the factory and the team on site must be very strong. So I’ll be spending my first week at the factory and on the track to get a feel for both sides and see how the collaboration works,” revealed the 49-year-old.

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“Those will be the priorities: listening, observing and ensuring that both sides form a united front. After all, with 24 races a year, we don’t see each other as often as we used to, back when we were running 16 races a season. It’s important that there’s still a strong sense of unity, particularly for the short-term challenges that lie ahead in the second half of the season. “In addition, I’ll be reviewing the organisation and processes, as well as the resources we have at our disposal. General Motors has in-depth technical expertise and offers many opportunities, and I feel that we haven’t yet made full use of them,” added Budkowski.