Jost Capito, the CEO of the Williams F1 team, is a man with a Volkswagen past and he thinks the constructor is serious about Formula 1 because they have taken part in talks about the sport’s motoring future.
Capito was the boss of VW Motorsport at the time of the German constructor’s dominance in the World Rally Championship. Now rumors are growing that Volkswagen is considering stepping out of Formula 1 if new power units come into the sport in 2026. It is considered most likely that this will be under the Audi or Porsche flag.
Thomas Laudenbach, vice president of Porsche Motorsport, already said that it would be a dream to participate in Formula 1 but he also immediately said that a decision must be made within a certain period.
But Capito is confident that the Volkswagen Group will soon play a role in Formula 1.
“They participated in the discussions about the motorcycle regulations,” Capito told Motorsport. “I don’t think they would waste their time going to these meetings, especially since it’s the CEO who comes to those meetings.”
“But in the end it depends on what the final regulations are. If the Volkswagen Group thinks it makes sense, they may go to the board of directors and ask for a decision.”
“It really depends on the regulations and the engine regulations for 2026 are not out yet. I think it all depends on that.”
The chance they will start with their own team is small for Capito. A while ago there was a rumor that Audi would have taken over McLaren, but it soon turned out that there was nothing to it. Red Bull is also often mentioned as a possible partner for Audi, but the Austrian formation has just invested heavily to build the Honda power units in-house.
“It’s always difficult with a well-known team,” said Capito. “Especially with a German team, with all those union regulations you really can’t run a race team. That is why Audi has teamed up with Joest and others in the past.”
“It’s the same as with BMW, because it’s very difficult to run a factory team. It might be easier if it’s abroad. I really do not know.”
“If you look at the Volkswagen Group, they had different strategies in the past. The rally team was a full works team and Porsche had full works teams outsourced, just like Audi.”
“I’m not involved in those kinds of discussions,” he admitted. “But I think that explains enough for them to make the right decision.”
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(F1journaal.be)
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