Hyundai has already begun to look forward to 2023, with team deputy director Julien Moncet confirming to Motorsport.com that the team was considering options for next year ahead of last weekend’s hat-trick at Rally Acropolis, Greece. .
This season, the South Korean brand has lined up Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak full time, with a third i20 N shared by Oliver Solberg and Dani Sordo.
Although Tanak has a contract with Hyundai for next year, speculations about his future have increased despite the Estonian winning in Sardinia, Finland and Belgium this season.
Tanak did not hesitate to express his frustrations for the material at his disposal, which on several occasions proved unreliable, and for the internal organization of the team. Speaking after the win in Belgium, he has openly stated that he does not consider Moncet the right candidate to get the vacant role of team principal.
The 2019 world champion didn’t hide his frustration even in Greece, after Hyundai Motorsport president Sean Kim told his drivers to hold their positions to safeguard podium dominance. Tanak, who is currently Hyundai’s best option to counter Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera in the drivers’ championship, therefore finished second, behind Neuville.
When asked if he will drive for Hyundai next year following the team order decision, Tanak replied with a cryptic: “We’ll see next year.”
When asked about Tanak’s future in Belgium last month, Moncet stated that he expects Tanak to stay with the team, before saying: “I don’t make contracts. But I say this: even if a driver has a contract. , he can leave, just like in football “.
Although Moncet understood Tanak’s frustrations with the team order decision in Greece, when asked if he expected the driver to stay with the team next year, he told Motorsport.com: “We have contact with him. and we will discuss the future with him, as we do with all our riders. It’s normal. “
“Obviously when our 2023 driver lineup is official, we will announce it in due course.”
Ott Tanak, Hyundai World Rally Team
Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport
Asked about Solberg’s future in next season’s team, Moncet replied: “We are evaluating all options for next year, I can’t tell you more.”
Should Tanak choose to leave Hyundai, the M-Sport has emerged as his best option, while Toyota is expected to field an unchanged line-up for next year.
Tanak has a precedent with the Ford works team, with whom he made his WRC debut in 2011 and finished third in the 2017 standings, before joining Toyota at the end of the season.
The Estonian has addressed the service park rumors linking him to a return to M-Sport, stating that these were only “rumors” after his win in Belgium.
However, M-Sport is looking for an experienced driver to partner with Craig Breen, who will enter the second year of his contract with the team in 2023.
This season the team has lined up full-time Gus Greensmith and Adrien Fourmaux, adding partial schedules for nine-time world champion Sebastien Loeb and Pierre-Louis Loubet.
Outside of Breen, the team’s lineup for 2023 remains an “open book,” according to team principal Malcolm Wilson.
Wilson told Motorsport.com in Belgium that securing another top driver for 2023 is a priority.
“There is no question, for me who have been around for so long, my priority is trying to find a top driver,” said Wilson. “We don’t have any specific plans for next year, so it’s a completely open book.”
It is understood that in order to get their hands on Tanak, M-Sport will have to convince the former world champion to accept a significant reduction in the salary he receives today at Hyundai. At the same time, it would not be easy for the Korean company to cover any void that the Estonian would leave.
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