zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
McLaren F1 Team Picks Up New CEO From VW WRC Team That Doesn't Know How To Lose
McLaren F1 Team Picks Up New CEO From VW WRC Team That Doesn't Know How To Lose-July 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:35

The McLaren Formula One Team is tired of losing. We’re tired of seeing them lose. Even F1 head Bernie Ecclestone is tired of seeing them lose, in a where fans and F1's leadership actually agree. So, McLaren hired a CEO from a team that doesn’t understand losing: Volkswagen’s World Rally Championship team.

Volkswagen Motorsport Director Jost Capito led the works WRC effort to three consecutive championships in 2013, 2014 and 2015. According to a press release quoted on , Capito joined on as Motorsport Director in May 2012. That’s a pretty quick turnaround from hire to domination!

The struggling McLaren team hopes he’ll bring more of the same to their Formula One effort, which has been puttering around at the back of the field with a dud of a Honda power unit all throughout 2015. As soon as Volkswagen replaces him as motorsport director, he will join on as chief executive officer of McLaren Racing.

Ron Dennis currently serves as the CEO of the new McLaren Technology Group, which was formed as an overarching umbrella of all things McLaren. Dennis told that he originally approached Capito for the job last summer.

This isn’t Capito’s first stint in F1, as he held an executive role with Sauber in the nineties. Ron Dennis told Autosport that Capito’s varied experience should make him an asset to the F1 team:

From a motorsport perspective he has experience in not only the World Rally Championship but also sportscars, touring cars, motorcycle racing and Formula 1, about which he is hugely knowledgeable and infectiously passionate.

There’s also that “winning” thing. They’ve picked a fellow who’s used to winning.

Capito replaces current McLaren Racing acting CEO Jonathan Neale, who moved over to be the chief operating officer of the new McLaren Technology Group, according to Autosport.

Hopefully this means Volkswagen can continue running a successful team in WRC as well and isn’t Capito seeing some kind of -related bad juju on the wall. Sure, I’d like to see someone who isn’t Sébastien Ogier win more often, but I have to agree with World Rally Blog’s : I’d rather see other teams get better than see the dominant team fall on hard times.

Contact the author at .

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
Next-Gen NASCAR Debut Delayed A Year
Next-Gen NASCAR Debut Delayed A Year
’s next-generation prototype car was supposed to debut in full at next year’s Daytona 500, but delays in development due to the novel coronavirus have pushed those plans back another year. Here’s the statement from John Probst, Senior VP of Racing Innovation for NASCAR: Due to challenges related to...
Jul 9, 2025
Formula One Won't Give Up On The 2020 Season Until October
Formula One Won't Give Up On The 2020 Season Until October
The 2020 Formula One season schedule originally had a massive 22 race weekends on the board, but nine of those have already been cancelled or postponed (and a tenth, the French Grand Prix, on deck). As the motorsport community continues to spiral in the wake of the covid-19 international...
Jul 9, 2025
Enjoy This Huge Stash Of Rad 1980s and '90s Rally Videos
Enjoy This Huge Stash Of Rad 1980s and '90s Rally Videos
Weren’t you just saying you wish you knew where to find hours and hours of sweet old video clips featuring really rad cars from the 1980s and ’90s? Well... you’re welcome. The YouTube channel “” has you covered. If you want to just sit and relax and be amazed,...
Jul 9, 2025
Formula One's 2020 Season Continues To Dissolve
Formula One's 2020 Season Continues To Dissolve
Following the absolute omnishambles that was (above), has been postponed or cancelled an additional eight rounds. The Canadian Grand Prix, originally scheduled for June 14th, is the latest of them to fall victim to the coronavirus global pandemic. Of the 22 grands prix originally on the schedule, now only...
Jul 9, 2025
89-Year-Old Bernie Ecclestone Still Fucks, Fourth Child Due This Summer
89-Year-Old Bernie Ecclestone Still Fucks, Fourth Child Due This Summer
Former Formula One boss and billionaire ghoul of note has confirmed that his 44-year-old wife of 8 years Fabiana Flosi is with child. This will be Ecclestone’s first child with his third wife. His eldest, Deborah (65), was born to his first wife Ivy Bamford before having two further...
Jul 9, 2025
Allow This McLaren M1B's Buttery V8 To Soothe Your Soul
Allow This McLaren M1B's Buttery V8 To Soothe Your Soul
Has there ever been a cooler series than Group 7 in the mid-to-late 1960s? Back then the way to build a fast car was to shove a big American V8 in a lightweight and nimble European chassis and jam the loud pedal as often as possible. The cars were...
Jul 9, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved