Jost Capito, the Team Principal and CEO at the Williams F1 Team, says the development of the team in 2021 was what he was hoping for, but their points tally and place in the Constructors’ Championship far exceeded all expectations.
Williams failed to score a point in 2020 having only scored a single point in 2019, and with car development restricted due to regulations and COVID-19, there was little optimism coming from the team ahead of the 2021 season.
However, they scored double points finishes in the Hungarian and Belgian Grand Prix, with the latter containing a podium finish for George Russell, albeit in relatively controversial circumstances as there was no green flag running at Spa-Francorchamps due to the weather conditions.
Russell also scored top ten finishes in the Italian and Russian Grand Prix and ended fifteenth in the Drivers’ Championship with sixteen points to his name, while Nicholas Latifi’s efforts in Hungary and Belgium saw him score seven points and place seventeenth.
The team ended eighth in the Constructors’ Championship, ten points ahead of the Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN team, while the Uralkali Haas F1 Team failed to score a point all season long.
“I would say from the development of the team, it was as I hoped for and expected,” Capito is quoted as saying by Motorsport Week. “From the points and the positions, it has exceeded the expectations.
“From the very little development possible from last year to this year and under the Covid circumstances, it was even more difficult. Then finishing eighth, it’s over-achieving our objectives from the beginning of the season.
“Personal highlights are Budapest, the first points-score after a long time for the team, and then the podium in Spa.
“These were also key moments for the team to find the trust back, find the motivation back, and to push even harder to prove that if we do courageous decisions, they can pay off.”
Capito says the team has grown since he arrived as CEO midway through 2020, with his role as Team Principal being added on this year, and he is satisfied with where the team are and how they are progressing.
“I am satisfied with where the team is now, with the structure we have in place, with the processes we have in place,” revealed Capito.
