Capito due to start at McLaren after summer break

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Jost Capito is due to start work as McLaren CEO following the August shutdown, with back-to-back races in Belgium and Italy.

The Volkswagen director of motorsport was announced as joining McLaren as far back as January, but said soon after that he would not be starting work until a successor for him at VW had been found. Speaking during the FIA Sport Conference in Turin, Capito confirmed a rough date is now in place.

Asked if he knew when he would be starting work with McLaren, Capito replied: "Yes, this year.

"It will be the end of August, beginning of September, something around that region."

The Belgian Grand Prix takes place on 28 August, with the following race in Monza on 4 September to end the European season. Despite starting in his new role in two months, Capito says he has had no time to observe how McLaren is faring.

"I’ve not - the job at VW is such a big job. It’s not only WRC (world rally), it’s rallycross in the US, it’s TCR (touring cars)… As long as I’m there, I’m doing a proper job there.

"I’m looking forward to the switch; otherwise I wouldn’t have done it!"

And Capito doesn't see many differences in Formula 1 having previously had a spell with Sauber.

"When you come in the paddock you still see the same faces, just older. But I don’t see that because I’m older too! I don’t see a lot of changing; of course the cars change, the technology changes, but it’s still Formula One."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.