A matter of hours after finishing fourth at Rally Spain, Ott Tanak announced that he’d exercised an option in his deal to end his contract with Hyundai a year early. It is a bold move from the 2019 world champion and one that is set to trigger a number of potential driver line-up changes in the service park.
The background to Tanak’s bombshell announcement
Before assessing the make up of the 2023 field it is pertinent to understand how this situation has unfolded. Tanak’s WRC future has been uncertain for a matter of months despite holding a contract for 2023 with the South Korean marque.
Tanak made it clear in his announcement on Sunday night that his departure is a personal decision. The 35-year-old’s exit doesn’t come as a complete surprise given his growing discontent that has been visible on several occasions this season. It is fair that frustrations were evident back in 2021 after reliability issues stymied his title efforts.
Hyundai by its own admission has been months behind its WRC rivals Toyota and M-Sport-Ford with the development of its new-for-2022 i20 N machine. It’s birth wasn’t helped by a winter of upheaval that saw team boss Andrea Adamo, who enticed Tanak to Hyundai in 2020, leave in December. The departure created a lack of leadership during a critical period, and to this point the team is yet to formally announce a new team principal. Instead, power train boss Julien Moncet was installed as the team’s deputy team director and de facto leader.
When the i20 N burst onto the scene in Monte Carlo it was far from a finished product. It was unreliable and struggling to match the GR Yaris and Puma counterparts. To Hyundai’s credit it has managed to transform its i20 N into a winning machine, with Tanak taming the car to record victories in Sardinia, Finland and Belgium. However, a series of reliability issues have proven to be the i20 N’s Achilles heel that has left Tanak frustrated.
Tanak has been openly critical of not only his equipment but of the team’s management, stating that Moncet shouldn’t become the team boss following his win at Ypres in August.
“He [Julien] is a great guy doing the engine, he's been always an engine guy and obviously Hyundai has a great engine so that's what he should be doing in my opinion," he said when asked if Moncet should become team principal.
“The rest, it's up to the management to work out how we could continue. The potential in the car is huge, they've done a great job first designing it but now to put it together it needs another good effort, but it needs a team effort, all together and that's what we are working for.”
It was also in Belgium that Moncet hinted that Tanak could leave the team, when he said: “I don't make contracts. But I say this, even if a driver has a contract, he can leave, just like in football."
Rumours suggesting Tanak could leave Hyundai began to circulate prior to August’s Rally Finland but by September’s Acropolis Rally in Greece it was clear that an exit was a realistic eventuality. Hyundai elected not to enforce team orders to allow Tanak, its better placed driver in the title race against Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera, to switch places with rally leader Thierry Neuville.
While Hyundai recorded a history making maiden 1-2-3, Tanak was critical at the lack of team orders.
“If you are to fight for [the drivers'] championship then it was wrong and if you want to have good PR it is the right decision,” he said. “It depends whose perspective you are looking from. My perspective is I want to fight for the championship, but it is shame that we couldn’t do it in a fair fight.”
"My perspective is I want to fight for the championship, but it is shame that we couldn’t do it in a fair fight" Ott Tanak
And asked if he would be driving for the team next year, a cryptic “we'll see next year" was the reply. That can now be translated as a firm no.
Despite an at times frosty relationship with team-mate Neuville, the Belgian said that he wanted Tanak to stay at the team next year when asked about the 2023 line-up in the post event Rally Spain press conference.
“What I like is to have Ott as my team-mate because he is the strongest team-mate I have ever had,” said Neuville. “It makes an additional challenge for me but it is also motivating as well for me.”
So what does the future hold for Tanak?
Tanak’s departure statement didn’t offer much in terms of his future plans other than a “I feel that I am at a stage of my career where I need to embark on a new challenge” comment.
There are no question marks around the 35-year-old’s ability. He is among the championship’s elite drivers and if anything his stock has risen this year following Herculean efforts to guide the tricky i20 N to three wins this year. Perhaps among the greatest of his 17 rally wins to date, is this year’s triumph in Finland, where he beat new champion Rovanpera fair and square.
To remain in the WRC top flight Tanak’s options appear to be limited to Toyota and M-Sport. Speculation that he could rejoin M-Sport, the team that launched his WRC career in 2011, has rumbled on for several weeks. But it seems something drastic would have to change at the Ford squad in terms of funding to land Tanak, as outlined by team principal Richard Millener in New Zealand earlier this month.
“Of course we are speaking to everyone we can,” Millener told Autosport. “Ott is an incredible person, but with his success comes a cost and whether that is achievable for us is something that is questionable. I think it would be pretty tricky for us to do.
“There is certainly nothing of substance to say on the rumours. It would be great to have him back in the team, but at the moment I think the rumours are doing more than the reality.”
Another of Tanak’s former haunts, Toyota, with whom he won his world title in 2019, is another theoretical destination, which would thus create a WRC super team. Team principal Jari-Matti Latvala has stated on several occasions that he is keen to retain the team’s current line-up of Rovanpera, Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta, with eight-time world champion Sebastian Ogier and Esapekka Lappi sharing the third factory ride.
Toyota is yet to announce its 2023 roster and prior to last weekend’s Rally Spain Latvala revealed that several drivers have been enquiring about seats for next year. He also explained that ultimately it is Toyota’s call and not his when it comes to the driver line-up. An announcement is, however, expected around Rally Japan next month.
“We haven’t confirmed the line-up for next year but I would also say that if you win all the championships is there a point to change anything?,” said Latvala after his team added the manufacturers’ title to its driver and co-driver crowns in Spain.
When asked before the last weekend’s rally for his thoughts if Toyota headquarters revealed an interest in signing Tanak, he replied: “We will have to discuss carefully what are the benefits.
“I said earlier that Ott is a fast driver and he is one of the fastest. I think him and Kalle are the fastest in the championship but is it good for the team and for the championship? These are the things you have to discuss.
“I think the good thing at Toyota is we have good communication and discussions and I think we can discuss and be happy with a decision.”
"It would be great to have [Ott] back in the team, but at the moment I think the rumours are doing more than the reality" Richard Millener
This announcement could also be a goodbye from Tanak. He issued a curveball of his own before Rally New Zealand, admitting that he could sit out the 2023 season entirely due to personal reasons relating to his family.
It could also be conceivable that Tanak has options to continue competing elsewhere through his own rally connections.
How will Tanak’s departure affect the driver market?
Tanak’s departure does mean that Hyundai is in the market for at least two drivers having already elected not to renew its contract with rising star Oliver Solberg, who was sharing the third i20 N this year with Dani Sordo.
Hyundai explained that it has changed its pathway for 2023 stating that it wishes to bring in experienced drivers to take the fight to its rivals. This policy change has highlighted a worrying trend throughout the WRC. The pool of experienced drivers is becoming smaller and will continue to do so unless younger drivers are given an opportunity to develop.
It appears Hyundai’s most favourable option is to turn to one of its former drivers and reigning WRC2 and 2021 European rally champion Andreas Mikkelsen. The Norwegian is a former WRC rally winner with Volkswagen and his credentials would tick many boxes at the Alzenau operation.
Reports from Spain also indicate that Sordo has been offered a deal to contest as many as eight rallies next year as part of a shared drive for its third car.
Hyundai’s Moncet also told Autosport prior to Rally Spain that former Citroen and Toyota driver Kris Meeke is on their shortlist. The Northern Irishman has gone on record as being keen to return to the WRC in a part-time role, but has been absent from the championship since his single season at Toyota in 2019. The five-time rally winner has been active as a test driver for Skoda Motorsport this year and is not short of seat time.
Another former Hyundai driver in Hayden Paddon would seemingly fit the bill, while the team also has its current WRC2 driver Teemu Suninen on its books. The Finn has WRC experience and was called upon to deputise for Tanak at Rally Monza last year.
Interestingly, Neuville has listed Toyota’s Elfyn Evans as a driver he would like to see join the team. This would however require some change at Toyota but could be conceivable if Tanak does end up landing at the Japanese marque. Evans was asked about his future prior to Spain, shutting down any suggestions he is on the move for next year.
M-Sport is also yet to make its 2023 driver line-up known for next year. As explained earlier, it would seem a stretch for Tanak to end up at the Dovenby operation.
It does have Craig Breen contracted for next year but it is keen to bring in an experienced driver to support the Irishman, who has struggled for form this year.
"Same as this year," said Breen when asked about his future at the pre-event Rally Spain press conference. "It was a two-year contract at the beginning and it’s quite stable what is happening next year.
"Obviously, results need to be better. That kind of goes without saying. It’s been a very problematic couple of months on the rallies. There’s no big changes needed on the approach It’s easy to say that. The results have been the opposite of what we want. We just want to get through this weekend and get some momentum back into the game."
There is also a wish for nine-time world champion Sebastien Loeb to play a part-time role again next year.
Initial talks have been held with Solberg about a future drive with the team, which would seem a good fit for the pair given M-Sport’s history for nurturing young talent. The Swede is understood to have sponsors keen to remain associated with the son of the 2003 world champion Petter Solberg.
The team does already have young talents in Gus Greensmith, Pierre-Louis Loubet and Adrien Fourmaux in its stable, so it could be a busy off-season for the squad should it wish to shuffle its line-up.
