Why 'family' still comes first in Williams' new Capito era

When the Williams family made what must have been the painful decision to sell its eponymous Formula 1 team last year, there was an obvious risk that its name and influence would disappear from the sport forever.

Just as the Tyrrell, Stewart and Minardi monikers and identities morphed and disappeared into the current Mercedes, Red Bull and AlphaTauri models, so too it would have been easy for the Williams legacy to fade away as well. For, however much Dorilton Capital was intent on ensuring the Williams name lived on, the shift away from a family-run outfit to one led by sharp investors meant that things would equally have to change.

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While there was a short-term determination to keep the family name on the Grove factory gates, the meaning behind everything that was Williams at heart risked being swept away. But, seven months down the road from the takeover, the 'family' message is actually stronger than it's ever been.

The team's current management are convinced that the only way for Williams to make the progress it wants in F1 is if it retains the core qualities that made it an F1 powerhouse over many decades.

Newly-arrived CEO Jost Capito says one of the core takeaways he has had since he first was able to speak to staff (and finally set foot in the factory earlier this month) concerned the value of the 'family'.

Jost Capito, Williams CEO

Photo by: Williams F1 Team

"[When I started], I arranged meetings, half an hour to 45 minutes, Teams meetings, and video calls, with all the managers," he explains. "So, I've done more than 50 now. And I asked everybody in front [beforehand], and they got the same six questions.

"It was very interesting to see with colleagues, who just joined recently, or who have been there for a very long time. And one question was 'What should we preserve and why?'

"And it was, I would say, 99% of the people at Williams, they said it's the family feel. It's how we treat people, how people are treated, and how we work together. And I think that... I was really happy to hear that from nearly everybody, because that's my management style. It's you have to work as a family."

The messaging on family struck home this week when Capito moved to pull in one of his closest allies over recent years – new technical director Francois-Xavier Demaison.

"They say blood is stronger than water, so that there is blood in the team that connects you all together. And that everybody respects every single job that is done, respecting it. And it's very important" Jost Capito

The pair worked alongside each other at VW and, while Demaison's input into the ground-effect I.D. R and four consecutive World Rally Championship title doubles with the Polo between 2013 and 2016 are already valuable qualities to bring on board at Williams, his close ties to Capito say much about the value being placed on those personal relationships within an organisation.

But Capito is not naive enough to believe that having a 'family' feel is a golden ticket to success, nor even that the family spirit is simply about having fun and everyone having a good time. It goes much deeper than that because families can and do fall out, they live through the good spells and the bad moments, but what defines them is a bond that cannot be broken.

Jost Capito, FX Demaison, Rally Spain 2015

Photo by: Volkswagen Motorsport

"It doesn't mean always happy times," adds Capito. "I think we're all used to the family. Not every day is a happy time. But it is like this... the family feel means a very strong connection, that you do everything for the family.

"They say blood is stronger than water, so that there is blood in the team that connects you all together. And that everybody respects every single job that is done, respecting it. And it's very important.

"Then also it's about being supportive. Somebody sees there is a weakness that somebody has, then you support it, and not blame them. It's about getting that supportive cooperation in the team, and also defining success and celebrating success together that welds a team together. And the more fun you have working together, the better the results will be."

Equally, Capito knows that just having a family spirit alone is not enough to make progress in F1. Cash is still king and, without the injection of investment that Dorilton Capital has given to boost staff and infrastructure at Williams, the best bond in the world would not achieve much in F1.

Capito says he is actually encouraged by the state of the facilities at Grove, as he suggests the behind-the-scenes improvements that have taken place over recent months has put it in good shape.

"I think from the infrastructure side, there has been a lot done since Dorilton took over," he says. "At the end of last year, there has been a lot invested in infrastructure. For example, there are brand new, fantastic machines. If it's in 3D printing, if it's in hardware, software, on the IT structure, a lot has been done. We have a fantastic windtunnel.

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"We think we have everything... not everything, we have most in place to move up the grid. But you know, it's not that you put new machines in, and then you turn the switch on and they work properly. It's the same with the IT infrastructure: you need to implement that, you have to calibrate stuff, and then you have to make it work."

George Russell, Williams FW43B

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Capito and Dorilton are very much in this for the long haul. A dramatic 2021 turnaround is unrealistic, but the clean sheet offerings of 2022 present an opportunity for something big.

For Capito, too, there is a fresh chance to do something tangible in F1 following that aborted spell in McLaren in 2016. Having been signed by Ron Dennis from Volkswagen, he had barely officially started when the boardroom move that ousted Dennis and opened the door for a new management structure led by Zak Brown left him in an untenable position.

"I think the challenges are very much the same as they were at McLaren at that time. For me, it's all about utilising the infrastructure you have and get the team working together very well" Jost Capito

McLaren subsequently went for another outsider in Porsche's Andreas Seidl to help rebuild it. He's done a great job, in conjunction with Brown, of turning fortunes around at McLaren and moving it up the grid.

For Capito, the difficult situation McLaren was in when he arrived there has similarities to what he finds at Williams now, so he in effect faces the same task in a different location.

"I think the challenges are very much the same as they were at McLaren at that time," he says. "For me, it's all about utilising the infrastructure you have and get the team working together very well.

"It's that you have the systems in place, that the information flow goes throughout all the departments, so that everybody knows what you should know to do the best possible job. And I think that is the challenge every organisation has, and some are better in that and some are worse.

"For Williams, it's make the investments that have been done recently, make them work, and focus on making them work for the performance."

Jost Capito, Fernando Alonso 2016

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Performance will ultimately judge the job that Capito does, but keeping the family approach is key to hitting those targets.

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"The financial restrictions the team had for a couple of years, that didn't destroy the team, the family feeling and, let's say, the identity," reflects Capito. "That is so strong within Williams that even these bad times can't damage it. And this for me is a fantastic base to start from, to get the team back through a cooperative management style.

"Because what I've seen there, there are a lot of talents. It's a fantastic mix with young aspirational engineers, mechanics and with guys who have been there for 30 years, and they work well together. If we get that really bolted well together, then I'm sure it will be fun to work there and it will be successful."

Nicholas Latifi, Williams Bahrain F1 test

Photo by: Williams F1 Team