Budkowski admits Cadillac return 'a bit of a shock to the system'
Budkowski opens up on Cadillac challenge
Marcin Budkowski has described his return to Formula 1 as "a bit of a shock to the system" after being placed in charge of the Cadillac team less than a month ago.
The Pole replaced Graeme Lowdon as Team Principal just before the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August and has now been with the American outfit for nearly a month. Budkowski is no stranger to the sport, having previously worked with multiple championship-winning teams across sporting, technical and senior leadership divisions, including Prost, McLaren, Alpine and the FIA.
Having left F1 in 2022, Budkowski spent time with media organisations Eleven Sports Poland and Viaplay before the call from Cadillac came. Ahead of last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, he admitted that stepping back into a prominent role had been a jolt.
"What hits you first is the pace of F1, which I knew well but a few years out of the sport and it's a bit of a shock to the system because it's incredibly fast-paced, technical and hard-working, especially when you start in a new team and new project," Budkowski said during Friday's teams' press conference.
"The other thing is the first time I sat again on the pit wall in FP1 in Zandvoort and I had 12 channels blasting in my ears. It took me a little bit of time for my brain to get used to it.
"But the reality is, if you bring it back to the essentials and basics, it's about people, it's about building the team. It's about putting the right people in the right positions, getting everybody to work together and in terms of leadership, give them a vision and align everybody in that direction. That hasn't changed."
Encouraged despite winless start
Cadillac have endured a difficult maiden season, remaining the only team on the grid yet to score a point, with Valtteri Bottas' 13th-place finish at the Chinese Grand Prix their best result so far. Despite the lack of pace and reliability, Budkowski has been encouraged by what he has seen across his first three races in charge.
"I've seen a lot of good things in the team, and it's pretty impressive given the time they had to build the team and conditions with the entry and everything," he said.
"A lot of good things, there's no legacy compared to some other teams. There's a lot of open-minded, constructive discussions going on but there's also a number of shortcuts that are being taken, which is inevitable when you build a new team in such a time.
"It's about working in some areas that need more attention. In the short-term, reliability. We've seen we've struggled with that in some areas and just getting the operational excellence to the next level, which is not the level of a top team as of today, but that's understandable.
"Longer term, there's some clearer priorities emerging for what we need to do and better, mostly to improve our performance and our pace."