It’s all change at Cadillac with a returning face at the helm as long-time engineer and former Alpine Executive Director Marcin Budkowski takes over as Team Principal.
Budkowski is no stranger to Formula 1, having worked with multiple championship-winning Formula 1 teams across sporting and technical divisions and within senior leadership teams.
The 49-year-old made his debut in the sport back in 2001 at Prost Grand Prix, a squad founded by four-time world champion Alain, before spending six seasons with Ferrari.
The Pole moved over to England in 2007 to join McLaren, working both trackside and at the team’s headquarters at Woking where he won the World Championship with Lewis Hamilton in 2008 and rose to Head of Aerodynamics in 2012.
He then hopped over the fence to governing body the FIA, working across their technical and sporting divisions as well as fulfilling the role of Deputy Race Director. He played a central role in introducing the halo safety device in 2018.
Renault tempted him back team side, with Budkowski forming a three-pronged leadership team with Laurent Rossi and Davide Brivio at the French operation, which was rebranded Alpine.
Alpine won their first Grand Prix via Esteban Ocon in the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix, with the team securing a strong fifth place in the Teams’ Championship.
However, he parted ways with the team early in 2022 after four years, with Rossi assuming overall control of the running of the team.
His departure was the first of several senior leadership changes over the following three turbulent years, which included Team Principals Otmar Szafnauer, Bruno Famin and Oliver Oakes, Chief Technical Officer Pat Fry, Technical Director Matt Harman, Head of Aerodynamics Dirk de Beer and Sporting Director Alan Permane.
Budkowski has remained a frequent visitor to the paddock over the last few years, largely as part of his role with Viaplay, but will now make a full-time return to the paddock, in what is his biggest role in F1 to date, starting with next weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix.