Jost Capito will leave his role as team principal and chief executive of Williams, the Formula 1 team has announced.
The German was in charge of the team for two years, in a particularly lean period for one of the sport's most famous brands. Despite their past glories, Williams have struggled to be competitive in recent times and finished the 2022 season rock bottom of the constructors' standings.
Also leaving the team is technical director Francois-Xavier Demaison, who joined the team last year. Both departures were framed by the team as resignations – with chairman of Dorilton Capital, the company which owns the team, Matthew Savage, implying that Capito has chosen to retire.
"We would like to thank Jost for his hard work and dedication as we embarked on a major transformation process to begin the journey of reviving Williams Racing," he said in a statement.
"We're grateful that Jost postponed his planned retirement to take on this challenge and now he will pass the reins on for the next part of this staged process. We would also like to thank FX for his contribution and wish him all the best for his future as he moves on."
Capito himself said: "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."
The team gave no indication of who would take over from Capito or Demaison going forward. Instead, Williams simply said that the roles of chief executive, team principal and technical director which are now all vacant will be filled "in due course".
Whoever does take over at the top faces a mammoth task. Williams, like every other team on the grid, harbours ambitions of getting back to a position where they can fight for podiums and race wins on a regular basis – but that looks a long way off for the Grove team right now.
Improvements must be made in terms of the competitiveness of their cars, though there is much admiration for their 2023 driver pairing. Alex Albon, now with a years' experience with the team under his belt, will lead their efforts alongside rookie Logan Sargeant – the first American to hold an F1 race seat in 15 years.
