Jost Capito (born 29 September 1958) is a German former motorsport manager. Capito has been employed in various roles during his 30-year career, with his most successful role being Director of Motorsport at

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post ...

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 The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally") is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal, ...

. In 1989 he took his first post in the

Volkswagen Group Volkswagen AG (), known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. The company designs, manufactures and distributes passenger and commercial ...

when he joined Porsche's racing division. In 1996 Capito moved to

Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it ...

as a member of the executive committee. He subsequently moved to

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

, 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 The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. There are separate championships ...

manufacturers' crown in 2006 and

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

. 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. In January 2016, it was announced that Capito would join

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...

, although it was also confirmed that Capito would not join McLaren until Volkswagen had appointed his successor. In June of that year Capito confirmed with ''

Autosport ''Autosport'' is a global motorsport publishing brand headquartered based in Richmond, London. It was established in 1950 at the same time as the origins of the Formula One World Championship. Autosport began life as a weekly magazine in 1950 ...

'' that he would leave Volkswagen after the

Rallye Deutschland The ADAC Rallye Deutschland is a rally event held in Germany. The event was first held in 1982 and originally hosted by e.g. Frankfurt, Mainz and Koblenz. In 2000, the rally was relocated to the region around Trier. Previously part of the Europ ...

, adding that he expected to be in place at McLaren for the

Belgian Grand Prix The Belgian Grand Prix ( French: ''Grand Prix de Belgique''; Dutch: ''Grote Prijs van België''; German: ''Großer Preis von Belgien'') is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula One World Championship. The first national race of ...

in late August. He celebrated victory for Volkswagen driver

Sébastien Ogier Sébastien Ogier (born 17 December 1983) is a French rally driver, competing for the Toyota Gazoo Racing Team in the World Rally Championship (WRC), who is teamed with the co-driver Julien Ingrassia. He has won the World Rally Drivers' Champi ...

at this final WRC event of his career. 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 at McLaren. On 17 December 2020, Capito was announced as the new CEO of Williams Racing Formula One team. In June 2021, he became team principal. In December 2022 it was announced that Capito would leave Williams.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Capito, Jost 1958 births Living people Formula One people McLaren people Williams Grand Prix Engineering