Jost Capito says Mercedes wasn’t against Williams hiring Alex Albon

© Williams Racing

Williams team boss Jost Capito says Mercedes couldn’t influence the team’s driver line-up decisions, and neither did Toto Wolff want to.

When Williams hired Red Bull junior driver Alex Albon to replace George Russell in 2022, many thought the team’s engine supplier Mercedes might try to block the decision.

It was thought that Mercedes wouldn’t be happy with a Red Bull affiliated driver having access to the information pertaining to their power unit. In addition, Mercedes’ own Nyck de Vries was said to be in contention for the seat.

However, Toto Wolff immediately said he would not block the hiring of Albon, and now it is also confirmed by Williams’ team boss Jost Capito.

“I discussed most of the problems with Christian and Red Bull really wanted Alex to find a place in F1,“ Capito told Formel1.de.


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“That’s why the negotiation wasn’t that difficult: they wanted to support him in his search for a seat, and we wanted Alex.

“Mercedes? Toto also has no problem with Alex leaving Red Bull to join us. It was not as difficult as it seemed from the outside. We have no further obligations towards them.

“It has always been clear, even with Mercedes, that the decisions on the drivers are up to us. We choose the drivers who are best for the team.

“This is also in the interest of Mercedes, because they too want their customer teams to perform at their best. There has never been any discussion about that.

“I have had a good relationship with Toto for many years, it hasn’t deteriorated in any way,“ concluded Williams’ team boss.

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