Two roles within Hyundai’s 2025 World Rally Championship lineup remain uncertain with only three months until the next season begins: its third driver and its team principal.
Cyril Abiteboul has two roles within Hyundai: he is both motorsport director and WRC team principal. His oversight is wide but, in the short term, one high-profile decision he must make is who will be driving alongside Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak next season.
Right now it’s a three-way share between Andreas Mikkelsen, Dani Sordo and Esapekka Lappi. Adrien Fourmaux has been repeatedly linked to that seat as a potential full-time replacement for all of them, a year on from being offered a part-time drive for this season before eventually staying with M-Sport.
It’s already late October and the clock is ticking to get driver lineups sorted. Of the three drivers currently sharing the third car, only Mikkelsen has shown interest in a full-time seat, with both Sordo and Lappi preferring to compete part-time. But Abiteboul indicated he has no interest in going into Mikkelsen’s future with the team until Rally Japan has been and gone.
When asked by DirtFish about Mikkelsen’s future with the team, Abiteboul said: “No, I don’t want to talk about that, no. I don’t think it would be appropriate.
Mikkelsen is sweating on retaining his seat beyond Rally Japan
“He knows what we expect from him and from the third car. So then the rest of the discussion will be between us after the season. There is no necessity to have those discussions now.”
Mikkelsen dented his hopes of a strong finish in Central Europe after running wide and hitting a fence on the first day, though recovered four points for Hyundai’s manufacturers’ championship ambitions with second-fastest time on the powerstage.
Despite the early shunt, Abiteboul reaffirmed Hyundai’s commitment to run Mikkelsen in Japan – though for now it remains his last opportunity to drive an i20 N Rally1.
“[There is] absolutely no change of plan to Japan,” Abiteboul affirmed. “We committed to him, he’s committed to us for Japan. What goes after Japan will be decided after Japan.”
There have also been question marks around whether Abiteboul will remain in post after the season is over, with the possibility that some WRC team management activities could be passed on to Sordo.
Making management decisions is enough to give anyone a headache
Abiteboul was once again coy on that possibility – but would not commit himself to remaining in the same role next season.
“Same thing, we’ll discuss all of that after Japan because right now Dani is one of our drivers, he’s part of our lineup,” he said. “That’s very much in his capacity that he was coming [to CER] and also because of lots of marketing activities.
“But clearly Dani is a very loyal and long-time family member and as you know, Korean brand, we’re very loyal to our family members. So let’s see. But first and foremost, he’s our driver. And let’s see if he still has a future as our driver. That would be the first discussion to have.”
When asked specifically if he would remain as team principal in 2025, Abiteboul responded: “I am team principal right now.
“You know, maybe I’m sacked if we don’t win the championship. So let’s see!”
