Jost Capito, the man at the helm of Volkswagen Motorsport’s domination of the World Rally Championship, has been appointed as the next chief executive officer of Formula 1 team Williams.
The German is best known for his management career rather than his skill behind the wheel, having won the trucks category in the 1985 Dakar Rally alongside his father, and worked for BMW, Porsche and Sauber before starting his involvement with the WRC at Ford in 2001.
Ford won the WRC manufacturers’ title through its M-Sport-run factory team in 2006 and 2007, the first time it had achieved the feat since its inaugural success in 1979.
Capito moved to Volkswagen in 2012 and oversaw its WRC return via a campaign running a Škoda Fabia S2000 before developing its own Polo R WRC car which dominated the world championship for four years. The manufacturer then pulled out of rallying’s top class following its infamous emissions scandal, and Capito left too. He returned to Volkswagen, but left again before it announced its total exit from motorsport.
There were brief periods with Jordan and McLaren where Capito was F1-focused, but he will now be working in the pinnacle of single-seater racing full-time at Williams where he will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the title-winning team.
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“It’s a great honor for me to join Williams Racing during these exciting and demanding times for both the team and for Formula 1,” said Capito.
“It is an honour to be a part of the future of this storied team, and one that carries such a poignant name in the sport, so I approach this challenge with great respect and with a huge amount of relish.”
Matthew Savage, chairman of the Dorilton Capital that owns Williams and chairman of the team itself, will be Capito’s only superior within the company. He believes Capito’s winning experience in the WRC will help turn Williams around from being the only manufacturer not to score a point in 2020 into a team capable of fighting near the front again.
“We are excited to welcome Jost Capito as the new CEO of Williams Racing,” Savage said. “He is an experienced and competitive individual, who has built winning teams and is a winner in his own right. He understands the Williams heritage and will work well with the team in pursuit of our objective to return to the front of the grid.”
