New McLaren CEO Jost Capito will not start working for the Formula One team until May so he can fulfill his Volkswagen World Rally Championship commitments.
Capito was announced as the new CEO of McLaren last week but in the team’s statement they did recognise he would start in due course and not immediately. This is because Capito was adamant he will not leave the VW team until a suitable successor he approves of has been appointed to take his place at the reigning World Rally Champions.
In an interview with AUTOSPORT, Jost Capito elaborated on why they announced his position at McLaren before leaving VW and what his intentions are for the coming months.
“We wanted to make the announcement, to get the news out there, so that we could stop the rumours and all of that,”
“Now the process has to start to try to find somebody to replace me.
“I don’t know how long that will take, but until that is done and I am happy with the way that’s done, I won’t be going anywhere.
“I will be here [at VW] for Monte Carlo, I will be here for the next three or four rallies, it could be longer – I don’t know.”
“For now, it’s business as usual with Volkswagen,”
“It’s kind of like with children. You bring up your children and, at some stage, they have to leave the home and go on their own.
“As a parent, you want to make sure the children are well prepared for what is coming and that’s what I want to do with Volkswagen.”
Whilst Capito finishes out his time with VW Jonathan Neale will continue in his role as acting CEO. Neale will also work alongside Capito whilst the changeover in leadership occurs before he moves over to McLaren’s technology department.
