Williams Racing has announced Jost Capito will join the team on 1 February 2021 as the new Chief Executive Officer, while Simon Roberts will officially become the Team Principal after being the acting leader of the team since the departure of Sir Frank and Claire Williams.
Jost will leave his role at Volkswagen R GmbH, where he was leading the German marque’s performance car department, to return to a role within Formula 1 having previously had a short spell at the McLaren F1 Team, and he will report to Williams Chairman Matthew Savage.
He has been a part of motorsport since the 1970’s, racing in and winning the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1985 before moving into a non-racing position. He started with five years in BMW M GmbH before switching to Porsche in 1989, Sauber Petronas Engineering in 1996 and then Ford in 2001, where, as Ford Europe’s Motorsport Director, he oversaw many categories from Formula Ford up to Formula 1 and into the World Rally Championship.
Either side of his stint with McLaren, he was at Volkswagen, initially as Motorsport Director from 2012 where he led them to consecutive Drivers’ and Constructors’ World Rally Championships, before switching to Volkswagen R GmbH until his call up by Williams.
“It’s a great honour 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.”
Williams Chairman Savage, who is also the Chairman of Dorilton Capital that bought Williams earlier this year, said he is excited to have someone with the experience of Capito join the team to lead them into a new era under new ownership.
“We are excited to welcome Jost Capito as the new CEO of Williams Racing,” said Savage. “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.”
