Official: Jost Capito is leaving McLaren
McLaren has announced that it is parting ways with its CEO, Jost Capito, just a few months after his arrival in Woking.
Jost Capito didn’t last long at McLaren, having been recruited in January 2016, as the team has decided to part ways with him.
Previously the director of Volkswagen Motorsport with success in the World Rally Championship, the German had joined McLaren to work alongside Éric Boullier and Jonathan Neale. It was during the last Italian Grand Prix that he took on his role.
Capito’s future had been brought into question following the ousting of McLaren’s president, Ron Dennis, who had originally recruited him. The arrival of Zak Brown as executive director initiated an evaluation of the team’s overall long-term strategy. The conclusions of this internal audit seemingly did not include Capito, leading the British organization to mutually agree to part ways with him.
The McLaren spokesperson said about this departure: « Jost Capito joined McLaren after four successful years with Volkswagen Motorsport, with a strong commitment to getting McLaren back on the path to success. He wanted to rebuild a winning team and focus entirely on developing a competitive McLaren car, with the aim of winning world championships in the coming years. »
Before adding: « Unfortunately, we have not been able to find common ground with Jost regarding what is and will be necessary to make the team victorious again. Therefore, we have agreed that he will leave McLaren Racing and are now considering other possibilities. We wish him much success in his future endeavors. »
