Jost Capito’s short era as Formula 1 team boss ended after less than two years: the German left the Williams team, which was plagued by the crisis. The traditional racing team, which has won the Constructors’ World Championship nine times, has been lagging behind for years.
The Siegerland Jost Capito is no longer team boss at the Williams Formula 1 racing team. The traditional team announced the separation from the 64-year-old, who had worked as team boss for Williams since 2021. Francois-Xavier Demaison is also resigning from his position as Technical Director. Williams wants to inform about the successor to these two crucial positions “in due course”.
“It has been a great privilege to lead Williams Racing for the past two seasons and to lay the foundation for the turnaround of this great team,” said Capito. “I look forward to watching the team continue to thrive.” Before he became team boss, Capito was already the managing director of the traditional racing team. His predecessor, the Englishman Simon Roberts, had previously had to vacate his post after just one year due to “internal restructuring”.
“We are grateful that Jost has postponed his proposed retirement to accept this challenge, and now he will hand over the reins for the next part of this phased process,” said Matthew Savage, chairman of Williams investor Dorilton Capital, thanking Capito for “hard work and great commitment”. The German will now “hand over the reins for the next part of the step-by-step process”. After Mattia Binotto, who was relieved of his duties by Ferrari, Capito is the second team boss to leave Formula 1.
Williams is the third oldest and third most successful team in Formula 1. The racing team has won seven drivers’ and nine constructors’ titles since 1977. In the past season, the former world champion racing team took last place in the constructors’ championship. There was a brief upswing for the team during Capito’s tenure: while Williams was able to score a single championship point in 2019 and 2020, 23 points were enough for 9th place in the constructors’ classification in 2021. In the past season, however, the team fell back to last place.
