Williams announce shock departure of team principal Jost Capito

Williams have announced that Jost Capito has stepped down as team principal following two years with the team.

Capito joined Williams first as CEO in December 2020 before taking over as team principal in June 2021, taking over from Simon Roberts as new owners Dorilton Capital made their mark.

During his first season, Williams ended eighth in the Constructors’ ahead of Alfa Romeo and Haas but regressed to 10th in 2022.

Speaking following the announcement, Capito said it had been a “huge privilege” to lead the team.

“It has been a huge privilege to lead Williams Racing for the last two seasons and to lay the foundations for the turnaround of this great team. I look forward to watching the team as it continues on its path to future success.”

It is unclear whether this decision was a long time coming or a more recent choice. Speaking to PlanetF1.com at the Autosport Awards in early December, Capito had laid out his goals for 2023 as well as discussing new driver Logan Sargeant.

“I expect to make a step forward,” he told PlanetF1.com of his targets for 2023. “You never know what the others do but so far, we are quite optimistic that we can do a good step for the car.

“It’s quite difficult to say [where we will be.] We don’t put our objectives in terms of position in the championship or in points because this is really impossible to do.

“Especially with Logan being new in the team, being rookie, we can’t expect too many from him. So we don’t expect to have as many points as we could have with two experienced drivers but we expect the car to be competitive, at least in the lower midfield.

Williams stated that a new team principal would be appointed in due course, as would a new technical director after FX Demaison also left his post.

Matthew Savage, chairman of Dorilton Capital, thanked Capito for his work as well as his decision to postpone his retirement.

“We would like to thank Jost for his hard work and dedication as we embarked on a major transformation process to begin the journey of reviving Williams Racing.

“We’re grateful that Jost postponed his planned retirement to take on this challenge and now he will pass the reins on for the next part of this staged process. We would also like to thank FX for his contribution and wish him all the best for his future as he moves on.”

Read more: Williams 2022 season review – Respectability during first proper season under new ownership