Jost Capito may have left Volkswagen’s successful World Rally Championship team on a high note before VW even announced that they were pulling out of rally, however, he sure didn’t last long at his new gig. The BBC reports that Capito is set to leave as McLaren Racing’s CEO after only four months.
Capito was recruited by Ron Dennis with high hopes that maybe—finally—he could help the McLaren Formula One team get its act together. He only started working with McLaren on September 1.
Now that Dennis was forced out as chairman and CEO of the whole company, Capito will be next to leave, according to the BBC’s sources. If true, that means he’s barely had time to unpack his office supplies, decor and inevitable collection of VW Polo diecasts before he’s having to pack them back up again. Sources also say that Capito is no longer working with the day-to-day business of the company.
Many not only viewed Capito as Dennis’ right-hand man, but also as redundant with racing director Eric Boullier, according to Autosport.
Neither McLaren nor Capito commented to the BBC on the word Capito’s leaving. We’ve reached out to a McLaren representative for comment and will update this story if we hear back or hear any confirmation that Capito is gone.
Capito can’t exactly go back to Volkswagen to ask for his job back now, either, so who knows where he’ll end up. He led the Volkswagen WRC team to three world championships as team principal there.
UPDATE: McLaren declined to comment on this story.