Portugal Colonial - Cadillac enjoying 'very respectable' first season, says team boss

The American team, who have Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas at the wheel, have thus far failed to land a single point this season and sit bottom of the 11-team championship.

Perez almost got them off the mark when he crossed the line in 10th at the Monaco GP but he was later hit with a penalty that moved him out of the points. So their best performance was Bottas's 13th place in China.

"It's very respectable," Budkowski, who was appointed three weeks ago, told AFP.

"I have a lot of respect for the work that's been done so far. It's a team under construction. A lot of good work has been done to make it onto the grid with a car that is reasonably competitive for a new team."

The former engineer, who has worked for Ferrari, McLaren, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and Alpine, played down the problems that have afflicted the team.

"We have reliability problems that are fairly natural for a new team and we would have liked to solve them a bit earlier," said the 49-year-old Pole.

"But the work done to build this team in the time available is very impressive.

"Then, of course, along the way some shortcuts were inevitably taken, and today we're paying a bit of the price for those choices, so we need to correct course on those aspects."

- 'Limited resources' -

Budkowski is also licking his lips at the prospect of a more competitive car next season.

"The 2027 project is coming along well even though we have limited resources," he said.

"We're much smaller than the big teams, or even than the midfield teams. Partly because we're still in a recruitment and building phase and partly because we have budget constraints like everyone else.

"They probably affect us a bit more than some other teams because we are less established and less efficient today.

"Our collective experience is still very limited, but we're going to learn the lessons from this year. So I'm confident we'll take a significant step forward next year."

The Pole appeared to back Perez and Bottas without being able to confirm that they would still be with Cadillac in 2027.

"Right now, my priorities are the organisation of the team and the performance of the car," he said.

"I'm very happy with the drivers we have, two experienced drivers who are helping us develop the team. When we have things to announce, we will announce them."

Budkowski, who left his position as a director of the Alpine team in 2022, replaced Graeme Lowdon during the August break, leaving him little room to influence things this season.

"There are things I would like to change or influence and it's a bit late, so there's a bit of frustration because you'd like to do more," he said.

"But on the other hand, I think it's very useful because you can influence the priorities set for the team for next year.

"It would have been more difficult if I'd arrived at the end of the season. I'm coming in at a stage where I can still influence the direction of the team, its development, its structure, its working methods and therefore put my stamp on this team.

"I'm eager to work with this team and to bring it to a level that is much higher than where we are today."

H.Silva--PC