The 2023 F1 silly season started with the shocking news of Toto Wolff‘s former Mercedes aide James Vowles being appointed as Williams team principal. However, a Business F1 investigation goes in-depth about the events leading up to Vowles’ switch from Brackley to Grove.
A $6,900,000 misdemeanor led to former team principal Jost Capito’s sacking in December 2022. Capito was fired for investing the team’s funds into former Chief Marketing Officer, Claudia Schwarz’s fraudulent scheme.
Williams Racing and its owner Dorilton Capital have pursued legal proceedings to recover the funds. However, this has unearthed a Pandora’s box for the struggling British team.
Williams sue the former Chief Marketing Officer over fraud
After Jost Capito was appointed the Williams team principal in 2021, he brought back Claudia Schwarz as a consultant. Capito and Schwarz knew each other well, having previously worked at Volkswagen Motorsport’s Rallying team.
Schwarz soon began taking money for herself from Williams’s accounts. According to Business F1’s investigation, she overcharged the Grove-based team with $6,900,000 for her marketing services, which they never received.
It’s speculated that both Capito and Daren Fultz, former CEO and co-founder at Dorilton Capital were aware of this. Schwarz also had an extra-marital affair with Fultz and coerced him to carry out the payments.
There is no suggestion that Capito and Fultz benefitted personally from the scheme although they were undoubtedly enablers, knowingly or not. The immediate consequence was that Capito, Schwarz, and Fultz were all fired. The mess was uncovered in the late 2022 audit.
Schwarz, Fultz, and Capito were removed immediately, and the team uncovered the figures soon by revisiting their books. This led to James Vowles’s surprise appointment as team principal of Williams for the 2023 season.
Affairs and scandals uncovered in messy situation
According to Business F1, Claudia Schwarz forced the former CMO Tim Hunt out of his job after joining as a consultant. She then appointed herself in the position and abused the power she held within the team.
She allegedly forged sexual relations with Dorilton Capital CEO Darren Fultz. The two have had an affair since January 2021, according to the source. Both Schwarz and Fultz are married and have children. As soon as the affair and illicit payments were uncovered, Fultz was sacked from Dorilton.
Schwarz handed Williams’ paddock catering service contract to her husband. The deal was signed by Capito and Fultz, which added another angle to her misappropriation of company funds and fraud.
Williams and their owner Dorilton Capital have filed a case in the United States against Schwarz. While Capito and Fultz have been alleged antagonists in this fiasco, it remains unclear if they had any personal gain or knowingly collaborated with Schwarz.
The British team is one of F1’s legacy constructors and has been a part of the show since 1977. Williams is one of the most decorated teams in the sport with 9 constructors titles and 7 drivers titles. They are one of only 4 teams to have 100 race wins as a team.
The team ran into financial issues, leading up to their $200,000,000 sale to Dorilton in 2020. The team has incurred losses and issues with former sponsor ROKiT. It’s disappointing for F1 fans all over to see their name tarnished with such scandalous incidents.
