Sébastien Ogier admitted he once had doubts about Toyota team-mate Sami Pajari’s ability – but not anymore.
Pajari, the 2021 Junior WRC and 2024 WRC2 champion, joined Toyota’s lineup full-time in 2025 after three appearances in a GR Yaris Rally1 in 2024.
While the Finn claimed a maiden WRC podium at the penultimate round of his first full-time season at Rally Japan, his form was solid if unspectacular, having been under instruction to learn and bank mileage before picking up his pace on more familiar events.
Despite a troubled start to 2026 at the Monte Carlo Rally, Pajari has come alive since with victories in each of the last three WRC events (Rally Estonia, Finland and Paraguay) which earned him a new record as the first driver to claim their first three victories consecutively.
He’s also scored eight podiums from 11 starts to sit second in the world championship, just 20 points behind Elfyn Evans.
Three wins and eight visits to the podium in 11 rallies is a strong rate of return for any driver, regardless of age or experience
Reigning world champion Ogier was asked by DirtFish how satisfying it was to see young drivers blossom like Pajari has, where he admitted he hadn’t always seen that special something in the 24-year-old.
Ogier said: “I mean, honestly, he had a pretty tough time the last one and a half years. Even personally, I thought that he was missing something, you know. He was not showing enough, maybe, on my point of view.
“But the facts are there now. He won three rallies in a row, not necessarily with crazy performance; Estonia was a very impressive performance, the rest he was just there, consistent, not doing the mistakes and this sport is also a lot about that.
“So well done to him for achieving this and being able to be consistently there and yeah, capitalize a bit on a weekend like this where most of the contenders had an issue.
“But that’s part of our sport, so well done to him and Marko [Salminen, co-driver]. Now definitely [he’s] becoming a real contender for the championship.”
Sébastien Ogier has witnessed two young Finns come through the ranks at Toyota first-hand: Pajari and two-time world champion Kalle Rovanperä
Pajari admitted it “felt quite special” to make history with his three successive wins, but didn’t believe anything major had changed to unlock such a strong vein of form.
“I just put the foot down to the floor,” he smiled. “I mean, I think it’s only like the small things coming together, you feel the extra confidence, you get more familiar with the rallies and the car and so on.
“At this level, the level of competition is so tough. It’s about the slightest, smallest details, which at the end of the day would make you the best and the strongest.
“For a couple of weeks now we have been basically the strongest. But it’s still a long way to go; we need to carry on doing the same, hopefully for many years and there will be tough days coming, so I’m not expecting to win another three rallies now in a row.
“At some point things will go wrong once again but I just need to enjoy the moment.”
