F1: Williams staff principal Capito leaves after 2 years

Team principal Jost Capito and technical director François-Xavier Demaison are leaving Williams after it completed final within the Formula One constructors’ championship.

Capito led the staff for 2 seasons after funding agency Dorilton Capital purchased the staff in 2020 from the Williams household.

“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,” Capito stated in an announcement on Monday.

BREAKING: Team Principal Jost Capito departs Williams #F1 pic.twitter.com/hXBR1PDDp9

— Formula 1 (@F1) December 12, 2022

No purpose was given for Capito’s departure. The assertion included a remark from Dorilton chairman Matthew Savage that the 64-year-old German “postponed his planned retirement” when he took the Williams job.

Williams positioned eighth of 10 groups in 2021 and scored its first podium end since 2017 when George Russell was runner-up on the rain-shortened Belgian Grand Prix. After Russell left to drive for Mercedes, Williams scored solely eight factors in all of 2022 with Alex Albon, Nicholas Latifi and stand-in Nyck de Vries on the wheel.

American driver Logan Sargeant, who’s changing Latifi as Albon’s teammate for 2023, paid tribute to Capito for serving to his improvement in Formula Two.

“Jost, thank you for having the trust and belief in me throughout my time in the academy and helping me on my path to F1,” Sargeant wrote on Twitter. “He gave me an opportunity to show my potential and race in Formula 2. He has been a great team leader, and I wish him the best in whatever the future may hold!”

Williams didn’t give a timeline for changing Capito and Demaison. The first race subsequent season is on March 5 in Bahrain.

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Williams has gained 9 constructors’ titles, second solely to Ferrari, however none since 1997. The staff has been among the many slowest in F1 and confronted monetary issues earlier than the 2020 takeover.