New Cadillac boss demands “high urgency” to fix “far from pleasant” reliability issues

Key Takeaways:

Reliability Priority: Newly appointed Cadillac Team Principal Marcin Budkowski identified resolving car reliability as an urgent necessity to allow proper data collection and development.
Correlated Upgrades: Budkowski noted that initial aerodynamic upgrades brought to the MAC-26 correlated well with simulation tools, signaling that design direction is on the right path.
Balanced Resources: The Polish engineer emphasized that Cadillac must balance current-car fixes with 2027 design work, cost cap restrictions, and ongoing team recruitment.

Marcin Budkowski has just arrived at Cadillac and continues to learn about the infrastructure behind the American squad’s 2026 debut season, but has already identified an area requiring immediate resolution: mechanical reliability. Conversely, he noted that updates introduced to the MAC-26 so far yielded the expected correlation on track, representing a promising foundation.

Since beginning his Formula 1 career in 2001 with Prost Grand Prix, the Polish engineer built extensive experience across top-tier organizations over more than two decades. With a background centered on aerodynamics, his track record includes stints at Ferrari, McLaren, the FIA—where he served as head of the technical department—and Alpine during its transition from Renault.

Drivers Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas experienced significant performance deficits through the opening half of the season, with both remaining point-less. Neither driver managed to advance to Q2 in qualifying, prompting questions about whether reaching second-phase qualifying represents the target for the remaining rounds of 2026.

“Obviously, the ambition would be to progress as much as possible this season for a few reasons. First, the updates. Most of them worked, and that is a good sign. It means our tools are well aligned and that we are developing the car in the right direction. We also cannot forget that there will be regulation tweaks next year, though relatively minor ones. Therefore, everything we learn this year will carry over into developing next year’s car,” Cadillac’s new Team Principal stated in an interview with Motorsport Week.

“Now, on my end, I haven’t visited the factory yet. I haven’t been on site at the track [in Silverstone]. I don’t know exactly what is planned, nor do I know the status regarding the cost cap and similar constraints, as we know that acts as a limiting factor for team development. Teams must balance current-car development, next year’s car design, and, in Cadillac’s case, an intense recruitment drive. I will need to familiarize myself with all of those dynamics. I hope there are upgrades planned, but I cannot confirm that yet,” he admitted.

“There are also reliability issues that hindered the team during the first part of the season. To an extent, that is understandable. It’s a new team, a new group of people—everyone is learning together and failing together. Failure is part of the learning curve in F1,” he added.

Marcin Budkowski highlighted areas requiring urgent focus at Cadillac (Photo: Cadillac)

Data Collection and Resource Management

“It is far from pleasant, but these issues clearly prevented the team from learning more. At the end of the day, during a race weekend, everything translates into data accumulation. It comes down to understanding the vehicle package, and I think that needs to be addressed with very, very high urgency,” Budkowski warned.

“I am confident there is determination within the team to resolve this, but there will be a strong focus on fixing the issues we are currently facing. Otherwise, there is little point in developing the car if you cannot extract the potential from the parts brought to the track,” he concluded.

Formula 1 is currently on its summer break. Track action for the 2026 season resumes August 21–23 with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.