Jost Capito

Jost Capito
Capito during WRC Rally Catalunya 2015
Born	(1958-10-29) 29 October 1958 (age 64) Neunkirchen, West Germany
Nationality	German
Alma mater	Technical University of Munich [1]
Employer(s)	BMW Motorsport 1985–89 Porsche 1989–96 Sauber 1996 Ford Performance 1997–2007 Volkswagen Motorsport (2012–16) McLaren (2016) Williams Racing (2020–2022)
Known for	Volkswagen Motorsport (Director of Motorsport) McLaren (CEO) Williams Racing (Team Principal)

Jost Capito (born 29 September 1958) is a German former motorsport manager. Capito has been employed in various roles during his career, with his most successful role being Director of Motorsport at Volkswagen.

Motorsport

Capito's first job in motorsport began in 1985 with BMW, working in the high-performance engine development sector. That year he also was part of the crew that won the truck class of the Paris–Dakar Rally. ^[2] In 1989 he took his first post in the Volkswagen Group when he joined Porsche's racing division. ^[3]

In 1996 Capito moved to Sauber as a member of the executive committee. He subsequently moved to Ford, where he stayed for a decade and where he was responsible for pushing through development of the Focus Mk1 RS, which in its WRC form took the World Rally Championship manufacturers' crown in 2006 and 2007. ^{[2] [3]}

Capito joined Volkswagen in May 2012. During his time there, Volkswagen dominated in the World Rally Championship, winning a hat-trick of both Drivers and Constructors Championships. ^[3]

In January 2016, it was announced that Capito would join McLaren, although it was also confirmed that Capito would not join McLaren until Volkswagen had appointed his successor. ^{[2] [4]} In June of that year Capito confirmed with Autosport that he would leave Volkswagen after the Rallye Deutschland, adding that he expected to be in place at McLaren for the Belgian Grand Prix in late August. ^[5] He celebrated victory for Volkswagen driver Sébastien Ogier at this final WRC event of his career. ^[6]

Capito officially began his new role within McLaren on 1 September 2016. His first race weekend with his new team was the Italian Grand Prix. On 19 December 2016, McLaren announced that Capito had left his position. ^[7]

On 17 December 2020, Capito was announced as the new CEO of the Williams Racing Formula One team. ^{[8] [9]} In June 2021, he became team principal. ^[10] In December 2022 it was announced that Capito would leave Williams. ^[11]

References

1. "KontakTUM Magazin 1/2016" (PDF) (in German). Retrieved 18 March 2021.
2. "Jost Capito to leave Volkswagen for McLaren". Top Gear. 14 January 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
3. "Volkswagen boss Capito to leave - wrc.com". www.wrc.com. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
4. "McLaren Formula 1 - McLaren prepares for increased growth with key new appointments". www.mclaren.com. 14 January 2016. Archived from the original on 16 January 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
5. Rencken, Dieter; Beer, Matt (21 June 2016). "New McLaren F1 CEO Jost Capito expects to join for Belgian GP". autosport.com . Retrieved 22 August 2016.
6. "Breaking news: Ogier takes win in Germany - wrc.com". www.wrc.com. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
7. "Jost Capito: McLaren to part company with F1 boss after four months". BBC. 19 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
8. "Williams Racing Appoints Jost Capito as Chief Executive Officer". www.williamsf1.com. Archived from the original on 30 January 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
9. "Former Volkswagen R boss becomes Williams CEO". Autocar. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
10. "Simon Roberts to leave Williams, with CEO Jost Capito taking on Team Principal role". Formula1. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
11. "Williams F1 team principal Jost Capito steps down". 12 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.