Marcin Budkowski: “Jean Todt taught me a lot about the level of demands and dedication needed to win in F1”

Cześć* Marcin! Where are we ?

In Katowice, southern Poland, where I took part in a conference as part of the Śląskie Science Festival (the Polish part of Silesia where Katowice is located. Editor’s note). It is a large-scale event with some 60 people present over three days. For the first time, there was a zone dedicated to motorsport where I was invited as a speaker.

The choice of a Renault 8 Is Gordini a way of telling us that you miss the French manufacturer?

(He laughs heartily) I see what you're getting at: you're trying to set a trap for me in the hopes of making a sensational headline! More seriously, it is a loan of “La Squadra”, the official importer of most luxury and sports brands in Poland. While visiting them, I came across this car which is both an icon of French motorsport and a nod to my time at Renault-Alpine.

If Poland is very interested in automobiles today, this was less the case when you were young. So how did you catch the virus?

I was born here, but I grew up in France. My parents are Polish and both scientists. My mother is a biochemist and worked in medical research, my father is a computer scientist, specializing in telecommunications. They had international contacts and collaborated with a number of institutes and universities abroad. They were therefore quite open to the world at a time when Poland was still under communist rule. They had the opportunity to travel abroad for congresses and conferences. They had connections and many friends in France and decided to emigrate there in search of a better life. We left in the early 1980s, during the state of siege that had been established. At the time, food was rationed, the army patrolled the streets, there was a curfew. I was 5 and a half years old. I arrived in the last year of kindergarten. I didn't speak French at all, but at that age, you learn quickly.

How did motorsport suddenly enter your life?

In