#flatgate

[jedivszombie]

What do the Williams CEO and tech director have going on??? 👀

My dear Anonymoose, this is THE question on everyone's (@renaultz, Ted and my) mind.

First, we will introduce the players. We have Jost Capito, newly appointed CEO of Williams.

Jost is not a complete stranger to F1 and had been hired by Ron Dennis in 2016 as the new CEO of McLaren (which all went to shit when the board ousted Ron and Jost got the boot in favour of Zak Brown), and he also was on the board of the Sauber group. BUT he had most of his success in the World Rally Championship and specifically as Managing Director for Volkswagen - where they dominated winning drivers and constructors championships.

Volkswagen proved to be very important in not only Jost's career as a motorsport manager BUT also in our little story. Because it was at Volkswagen that he met Francois-Xavier Demaison (affectionately known as FX Demaison, which is both a nerdy math thing BUT also makes him sound like a goddamn DJ).

FX Demaison is now the Technical Director at Williams, and was hired by Dorilton Capital and Jost. Now, FX is a little bit of a genius man and was the technical head at Volkswagen in WRC for a decade and part of the immensely successful team that Jost managed. FX is no stranger to F1 though, he used to work on Peugeot's engine programme (back when they were supplying Prost). There hadn't been a Technical Director at Williams since Paddy Lowe got the boot two years ago and Jost wanted to fill that role and was like "I know the man for the job!" FX is known for his work ethic and his confidence to make big decisions as well as being interested in new technologies.

So now we know the players and we know they have history and we could even go so far as to say that they are Pals™️ we move onto the question you are most interested by. What exactly do they have going on?

Well, when they got announced everyone thought it was just two dudes from outside F1 making a challenging but interesting career move and maybe being the change that Williams needs to succeed. Enter everyone's favourite and beloved Pitlane Reporter Ted Kravitz. Ted blew all of our tiny little minds during the Monaco weekend on his trademarked extremely chaotic Ted's Notebook - a feature that we all look forward to and mourn when Sky leaves him at home, which please stop doing Sky thanks.

So during the Qualifying Notebook (about 22:47) Ted drops a good old bombshell, which he had also apparently dropped on Twitter to promote the Notebook (crafty lad knows how to market himself), that Jost and FX were in fact living together down the road from the Williams factory. Neither were sure of whether their families would be joining them in the UK and while FX was apparently looking for a place they were living together, because you know when you're a super rich CEO and a whiz kid Tech Director you're super short of money to get your own apartment and you need a roommate. You can find Ted's explanation here (please note that they have ready meals and wine and discuss the future of the team and even if it's just dudes being dudes it's hella romantic and I say GOOD FOR YOU). Ted tripping over himself trying to describe it without saying much is really just everything to me tbh.

I hope this doesn't answer your question and leaves you as intrigued as the rest of us! And have a WRC Jost and FX to send you on your way

[hamiltonwc]

Me when reading about Williams new team principal

[dazeddigital]

RED CARPET RULEBREAKERS

Armpit hair, no make-up and fearlessly flaunting their sexuality: these are the women who refused to play along.

[a-stopped-watch-a-loss-an-end]

I love Emily Blunt!!!

[mildly-offensive-so-sensitive]

I feel like tumblr just got flattened by a steam roller...