Did Cadillac make the right decision? Here’s what Marc Surer has to say

The Cadillac team surprised everyone during the summer break by confirming a new team principal. Marcin Budkowski is now at the helm of the US racing team, succeeding Graeme Lowdon. The latter had led the Formula 1 newcomers during their preparations for their debut and had also been in charge during the first half of the season.

However, the numerous retirements suffered by Valtteri Bottas and Sergio ‘Checo’ Pérez prompted CEO Dan Towriss to relieve the Briton of his duties and instead place his faith in Budkowski’s abilities. The change makes sense, says Marc Surer in an exclusive interview with SPEEDWEEK.com. The former Formula 1 driver and current TV pundit for the Swiss broadcaster ‘SRF’ explains: “To me, the change makes sense because they needed someone to keep a close eye on the engineers.”

A sensible choice of team principal

“They kept having the same problems time and again, struggling with smoking and locking brakes and broken suspension. This wasn’t a one-off incident, but a problem that had been evident for quite some time. At some point, you have to ask yourself: what’s going on with the engineers? Or is there a lack of a leader who can solve the problem? Ind Budkowski is an engineer; they’re probably counting on him to put his foot down and scrutinise the engineers’ work more closely. That’s why the change was made in the middle of the season, which is rather unusual,” the Swiss expert continues.

The Swiss expert emphasises that it comes as no surprise that Cadillac is struggling with problems. “I remember Pat Symonds saying at the season opener in Melbourne that they’d never had two cars on the track at the same time before. They had to focus heavily on ensuring that the on-site operations ran smoothly and that all the parts were in the right place. The logistics are incredibly complex, and I also think they didn’t have enough parts on site. It’s simply an enormous amount of work, and when something breaks on the car, people are quick to blame the team back at base. That’s why it’s important to have a good connection between the team at the track and the staff at the factory. Having an engineer at the helm of the racing team is, of course, very helpful in this respect – it all makes sense,’ adds Surer.

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