Formula 1 | Capito ‘takes full responsibility’ for FW44 level
Jost Capito officially launched his second season as Williams F1 manager on Tuesday. Although he was not involved in the entire development of the FW44, he vouches for the performance of the Grove team’s new single-seater.
« I arrived in February 2021, so just a year ago, and the development of the new car had already started » remembers Capito. « The technical director, FX Demaison, arrived in April or May with already a quarter of the development done. »
« There could have been adjustments and there were, but of course I take full responsibility for this year’s car and the team in general. »
« But to get the team back to where we want to be from where we were in 2020 is a long way. It’s not something you can fix and do in a year. There’s more to do than what has been done ».
The German is still making sure to get used to the importance of his role in the team, and admits that he lives with a certain pressure on this subject, as the team has a history.
« It’s a team with a huge heritage, with huge success in the past. It’s a great honour, but it’s also a great pressure, because bringing Williams back to the top level is a pressure » explains Capito, then detailing the changes he has made to the team.
« We didn’t make a lot of personnel changes, we made some critical changes and what helped a lot was changing the spirit of the team and bringing pride back to the team. »
« We are not in F1 just to feel like we deserve our place. We are in Formula 1 and we no longer accept being last, we want to get on the grid, we need a good mindset and we have to enjoy this adventure. That was the most important thing. »
The biggest thing for Williams in 2021 has been changing the way the team approaches F1, and changing processes and operations: « We developed processes, we developed different structures, we improved communications. »
« We’ve developed goals, we’ve developed our values for the business and the behaviors we want to have in the business, so I think we’ve gone from being a very family business to being a well-structured engineering business. «
