You can’t say no to McLaren – Capito

Volkswagen motorsport director Jost Capito says he could not pass up McLaren’s offer to take the helm of its F1 team.

Capito was appointed as Woking’s new chief executive officer last week, in a major senior management coup. He will report directly to McLaren Group executive chairman Ron Dennis and has been tasked with leading the British outfit out of the doldrums following a torrid 2015 campaign.

Having overseen three extremely successful seasons and six titles in the World Rally Championship with VW, Capito feels he is ready for the next chapter in his storied motorsport career, which includes previous F1 spells at Sauber and Ford.

“Anybody who works in our industry knows that F1 is about McLaren and it's about Ferrari and the chance to run the McLaren team is not one that you can say no to,” the 57-year-old told Autosport.

“For people who live in our world, it would be impossible to say no to this.

“McLaren deserves to be in a better position than it is right now.

“It was a very tough decision to take. This was the most difficult in my career and it will be the biggest challenge in my career, that's for sure.

“But it's McLaren... And it's me, I am always interested in the big challenge.”

According to the report, Capito will not start to work for McLaren until his replacement at Volkswagen has been found, and is thus expected to take office around the springtime.

Feature: Force India winter diary part two - Logistics

Key dates for the 2016 F1 season