凯迪拉克F1车队突发换帅：洛登离任，布德科夫斯基接任
在荷兰大奖赛前一周多，凯迪拉克车队突然宣布格拉姆·洛登即刻卸任车队领队，由马尔钦·布德科夫斯基接任，时机和方式令围场震动。
凯迪拉克震惊F1车队的领队变动背后是什么——以及为什么选在这个时候发生
凯迪拉克F1首席执行官丹·托里斯表示，车队在“新阶段”需要不同类型的领导方式，但他承认这次变动比预期来得更早。那么，这支美国F1车队为什么认为必须现在就采取行动？
在荷兰大奖赛于赞德沃特开赛前一个多星期，F1世界突然从夏休期中被惊醒。
英国时间下午3点，凯迪拉克认定时机已到，宣布了一项震惊车坛的消息：格拉姆·洛登立即卸任领队一职，由马尔钦·布德科夫斯基接替。
这条消息中有两个要素本身并不特别奇怪。对于围场里的许多人来说，一段时间以来已经很清楚：虽然广受爱爱的洛登在车队最初的组建阶段发挥了关键作用，但他不会在更长期内继续担任车队领队。
凯迪拉克转向布德科夫斯基这样的人物也并不特别令人惊讶。这位接受法国教育的波兰人在一级方程式的多个不同领域都积累了经验：在普罗斯特、法拉利和迈凯伦等车队担任技术职务，通过在国际汽车联合会（FIA）的任职接触了规则制定方面的工作，随后又在阿尔派的经历中积累了领导层面的经验。
凯迪拉克承认这一任命比计划来得更早
主要问题在于时机：为什么是现在，为什么这么快？
凯迪拉克在新闻稿以及随后的媒体发布会上都强调，这是一次“计划中的过渡”，但即便如此，时机也极不寻常。它发生在夏休期期间，而且才进行到凯迪拉克第一个F1赛季的中途——换句话说，极其早。
“正如你们所知，每当我们在F1中进行过渡时，都是非常困难的，”托里斯说，这实际上等于承认，进行这种干预并没有完美的时机。
话虽如此，这位54岁的美国人确实承认，原本并不打算这么早做出改变。是的，替换洛登本来就在计划之中，但不一定是在这个时候。
“格雷姆和我一直谈论过，在某个时候会有一场过渡，”他继续说道。“这个决定是我做出的。而且我认为机会窗口非常狭窄。”
“看看我们正在打造的东西，这里有机会去创造一些全新的、具有创新性的事物。我不想做的是去打造一个已经被别人做过、已经很陈旧的东西，然后再试图去改进它。所以我认为，这次变革的时机来得比人们预想的要早。”
凯迪拉克承认，这并非一个双方共同作出的决定，洛登也只是在公告发布的当天早上才被告知此事。
这自然引出了一个问题：凯迪拉克最初计划在什么时候更换洛登。
然而，当Motorsport.com问到最初的设想是否是在车队首个赛季结束时才作出这一变动时，托里斯拒绝透露细节：“我不想给出一个时间表。我认为这本来会是一种走一步看一步的事情。”
实际上，这个过程的某些部分是在最后一刻才敲定的。布德科夫斯基在媒体会议上透露，他甚至还没有时间好好参观一下工厂，而托里斯则解释说，洛登是在公开发布消息的当天早上才被告知的。
“所以格雷厄姆和我今天早上谈过了，所以我认为从那个角度来说，这是一次非常近期的谈话，”托里斯说，并补充说这并不是一个双方共同的决定。
据凯迪拉克称，目前的成绩并没有起到作用。相反，一个考量是，新任领队在这个阶段仍然可以积极影响2027年的项目，而如果更晚更换领导层，那几乎是不可能实现的。
人工智能（AI）、沟通与通用汽车（GM）：为什么需要改变
比时机更有意思的是，为什么凯迪拉克认为在车队的下一个阶段需要一种不同类型的领导层，以及为什么它选择了布德科夫斯基。
尽管对于一支新军来说，赛道上的竞争局面相当令人鼓舞——甚至可能好于预期——但幕后还有一些需要改进的地方。其中包括工厂内的沟通：防止车队内部出现各自为政的孤岛，确保不同部门尽可能高效地协同工作。
托里斯认为，在这个新阶段，这支美国车队需要一种不同类型的领导方式。
托里斯承认这些问题，并将它们确定为车队新领导方向的关键重点。
“我认为，其中很多问题确实不同程度地存在，但它们都属于初创期的磨合问题，”凯迪拉克的F1首席执行官这样认为。
“我认为在新组建的组织中，沟通永远是需要重点改进的方面，要确保各项工作组织得当、协调一致，并在建设阶段保持士气。所以这些问题是可以预料的，而且它们确实不同程度地存在。”
除了人为因素之外，托里斯认为通用汽车内部仍有大量尚未开发的潜力。例如，这适用于人工智能以及通用汽车在该领域拥有的工具。托里斯还认为，布德科夫斯基能够比凯迪拉克迄今为止更好地利用这些资源。
当Motorsport.com问到他在下一阶段关注什么时，托里斯明确表示：“展望未来，我认为我们寻求的是一位能力非常强的技术领队的模式。如果你看看马尔钦的背景，看看他在一级方程式取得的成就，他无疑完全符合要求。”
"另外，我认为马尔钦离开一级方程式这段时间，让他能够以一种全新的视角去审视一级方程式的演变与发展，审视通用汽车和TWG集团的整体资源，并真正思考一支未来的一级方程式车队应该是什么样子。"
而这最后一点正是人工智能发挥作用的地方："人工智能以及类似这些技术的作用，我认为我们在一级方程式中通过凯迪拉克所能运用的通用汽车工具集，目前仅仅触及了皮毛。所以我认为在这方面还有更多工作要做。"
人工智能也是布德科夫斯基首次以凯迪拉克车队领队身份面对媒体时强调的重点之一。在他看来，未来的一级方程式车队将与如今的车队大不相同。
"一级方程式正在发生很多变化，与此同时整个社会也在经历巨大的变革，人工智能正在接管许多事情，"他说。
"我认为这项技术正在进入一级方程式（F1），但我们现在还处于非常非常初期的阶段。不过我确实认为，未来的车队将会与现在的样子大不相同。"
托里斯认为，通用汽车（GM）的工具和技术至今尚未被充分发挥其潜力。
这与凯迪拉克的雄心相吻合，即把车队的重心略微向美国转移。这并不是要从银石基地拿走任何东西，而是要在美国的土地上挖掘其他技术和专业知识。
"显然，由于一级方程式（F1）的人才集中在英国，我们的大部分招聘工作都是在英国进行的，今后将进入一个更以美国为中心的阶段。这不是通过转移人员来实现的，而是通过在其他地点继续发展组织，"托里斯解释道。
"我们也在研究来自其他行业的创新能力。马尔钦提到了航空航天业，还有一些其他行业。另外，还要进一步整合通用汽车现有的工具体系。我们将着眼于所有这些方面，并在所有基地之间进行整合。"
除了沟通方面的初期问题之外，这将成为布德科夫斯基最重要的任务之一。凯迪拉克认为，尽管车队仍处于起步阶段，但一些潜力尚未被挖掘出来，而布德科夫斯基需要从长远角度挖掘的，正是通用汽车内部的这种潜力。
与此同时，目前的这一举措表明，在一级方程式中没有人能保证自己的职位安全无虞，始终需要拿出成绩——即使你是从零开始组建一支一级方程式车队，并可能认为自己还有充足的时间。
布德科夫斯基必须在短期任务——特别是解决凯迪拉克的可靠性问题——与为车队制定长期愿景之间取得平衡。
英文原文
What’s behind Cadillac’s shock F1 team principal change – and why it happened now
Cadillac F1 CEO Dan Towriss says the team needs a different type of leadership for “a new phase”, but admits the change has come earlier than expected. So why does the American F1 outfit believe it needs to act now?
More than a week before the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, the Formula 1 world was abruptly awakened from its summer break.
At 3pm UK time, Cadillac decided the time was right to make a shock announcement: Graeme Lowdon had been replaced as team principal with immediate effect by Marcin Budkowski.
Two elements of that news are not particularly strange in themselves. For many in the paddock, it had already been clear for some time that while the well-liked Lowdon had been crucial during the team's initial build-up phase, he would not remain team principal in the longer term.
Nor is it particularly surprising that Cadillac has turned to someone like Budkowski. The French-educated Pole has gained experience across several different areas of F1: technical roles at the likes of Prost, Ferrari and McLaren, the regulatory side through his stint at the FIA, and subsequently the leadership side via his time at Alpine.
Cadillac admits it came earlier than planned
The main question is the timing: why now, and why so soon?
Cadillac stressed both in its press release and during the subsequent media session that it was a “planned transition”, but even then the timing is highly unusual. It comes in the middle of the summer break and only halfway through Cadillac's very first F1 season – extremely early, in other words.
"Anytime we're making a transition in Formula 1, as you guys know, it's very difficult," Towriss said, effectively concluding that there is no perfect moment for such an intervention.
That said, the 54-year-old American does admit that the intention was not to make the change this early. Yes, replacing Lowdon was part of the plan all along, but not necessarily at this point.
"Graeme and I always talked about that there would be a transition at some point," he continued. "This decision was mine. And I think there's a very narrow window of opportunity.
"When you look at what we're building, there is an opportunity to build something new and innovative. What I didn't want to do was to build something that's already been done, something that's old and then try to improve it. So I think that the time for that change came sooner than was expected."
Cadillac admits that it was not a mutual decision and that Lowdon was only informed on the morning of the announcement
That naturally raises the question of when Cadillac had initially planned to replace Lowdon.
However, when Motorsport.com asked whether the original idea had been to make the change at the end of the team's first season, Towriss declined to go into detail: "I wouldn't put a timetable on it. I think it was going to be, you know, a wait-and-see kind of thing."
In practice, some parts of the process came together at the last minute. Budkowski revealed during the media session that he had not even had the time for a proper factory tour yet, while Towriss explained that Lowdon was only informed on the morning before the public announcement.
"So Graeme and I spoke this morning, so I think it is a very recent conversation from that perspective," Towriss said, adding that it had not been a mutual decision.
The current results did not play a role, according to Cadillac. Instead, one consideration was that a new team principal can still actively influence the 2027 project at this stage, whereas that would have been almost impossible with a later leadership change.
AI, communication and GM: why change is needed
Even more interesting than the timing is why Cadillac believes it needs a different type of leadership for the team's next phase, and why it has chosen Budkowski.
Although the competitive picture on track is fairly encouraging for a newcomer – perhaps even better than expected – there are areas behind the scenes that need improving. These include communication at the factory: preventing silos within the team and ensuring that the different departments work together as effectively as possible.
Towriss argues that, in this new phase, the American team needs a different kind of leadership
Towriss acknowledges those issues and identifies them as key focal points of the team's new leadership direction.
"A lot of those issues, which to different degrees do exist, I think are teething issues," Cadillac's F1 CEO reckoned.
"I think in new organizations, communication is always going to be a focal point to improve, making sure things are organized correctly, aligned correctly, and maintaining morale through that building phase. So those issues are to be expected, and they do exist in different degrees."
Aside from the human element, Towriss believes there is still plenty of untapped potential within General Motors. That applies, for example, to artificial intelligence and the tools GM has in that area. Towriss also believes Budkowski can make greater use of those resources than Cadillac has managed so far.
Asked by Motorsport.com what he was looking at for the next stage, Towriss clarified: "As we look to the future, I think we’re looking at a model with a very strong technical team principal. And I think if you look at Marcin's background, what he's accomplished in Formula 1, he certainly fits the bill."
"Also, I think the time that Marcin has had away from Formula 1 provides him with a perspective to look at both how F1 has evolved and developed, look at the resources across General Motors and TWG, and really look at what a future vision of a Formula 1 team can look like."
And it is precisely on that final point that AI comes into play: "The role of AI and those kinds of things, I think we've only scratched the surface of the tool set that GM has to offer in F1 through Cadillac. And so I think there's more work to be done there."
AI was also one of the points Budkowski emphasised during his first media appearance as Cadillac’s team boss. In his view, the F1 team of the future will look very different from today's squads.
"There's a lot of changes in F1 and then there's a huge societal change going on as well, with AI taking over a lot of things," he said.
"And I think it's coming to F1, but we're at the very, very beginning of that. But I do think the teams of the future will look very different from what they look now."
Towriss believes that GM’s tools have not been utilised to their full potential so far
This ties in with Cadillac’s ambition to shift the team's centre of gravity slightly more towards the United States. Not by taking anything away from the Silverstone facility, but by tapping into other technologies and expertise on American soil.
"Obviously, with the concentration of F1 talent in the UK, the bulk of our recruitment has been in the UK and is moving into a more US-centric phase going forward. That is not by moving people, but by continuing to grow the organization in other locations," Towriss explained.
"We’re also looking at innovation capabilities from other industries. Marcin mentioned aerospace and there are some other industries as well. And again, further integration of the tool set available at GM. We'll be looking at all of those things, integrating those across all the locations."
Alongside the teething issues around communication, this will be one of Budkowski's most important tasks. Cadillac believes that, despite the team still being in its infancy, potential has been left on the table, and it is precisely that potential within GM that Budkowski needs to tap into for the longer term.
At the same time, the current move shows that nobody in F1 is safe in their job and that there is always a need to deliver – even when you are building an F1 team from scratch and might think you have time on your side.
Budkowski must balance his short-term tasks – particularly resolving Cadillac's reliability issues – with setting out a long-term vision for the team
Motorsport.com ·
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