Who is new McLaren chief Jost Capito?

McLaren have a new man in the paddock at the Italian Grand Prix, as new chief executive Jost Capito formally begins his career at the team.

Capito, 57, formerly director of motorsport at Volkswagen, was appointed in January by chairman Ron Dennis but only officially joined on September 1, having waited until his successor was in place before making the move.

McLaren will be hoping the German, who has led Volkswagen to the World Rally Championship constructors' and drivers' titles for the last three years, can help revive the fortunes of their team which last won a race in 2012.

"I first approached Jost last summer," said Dennis in January. "He is an extremely impressive, competitive and ambitious individual, who comes to us with a very wide range of automotive and motorsport experience."

Capito has more than 30 years experience in motorsport, and worked as Ford's director of global performance vehicles and motorsport business development before joining Volkswagen in 2012.

"For me, rallying is a fantastic motorsport, but Formula 1 is the pinnacle," he told the official WRC website  "It's not just Formula 1 that made up my mind, because I've been there before, it was more McLaren. McLaren is one of the two teams alongside Ferrari that has been consistently in F1 for 50 years.

"When I was a kid I was a huge fan of Bruce McLaren so I've followed the team all my life since I was five or six. I never dreamed of running its Formula 1 team - so this is like a boy's dream coming true. When I got this chance I couldn't say no."

One of Capito's first tasks will be holding on to two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, who seems to have lost his love for the sport in recent years. 

The Spaniard, whose deal expires in 2017, has claimed he doesn't find the driving fun anymore, and may look to move on from F1 if that situation doesn't change.

"It makes no sense to work with a driver who is not enjoying [it]," said Capito. "But I believe that the new cars will be more fun again.

"I am also convinced that next year's McLaren will not be a bad car. At the moment I don't know the details, but even from the outside you can see that the team has made so much progress."

And then there is the issue of who will be the team-mate of Alonso next year, with Jenson Button likely to depart after six years at McLaren.

Capito has, however, declared himself to a be a huge fan of Stoffel Vandoorne, the man tipped to take Button's seat.

"I think Stoffel is ready for Formula 1," he said. "He already showed that in Bahrain. I was in Bahrain myself and saw it myself that he did a professional job as though he had been doing it all his life. So he is definitely ready for Formula 1."