DirtFish’s Monte Carlo Rally 2025 driver rankings

Our writers deliver their verdict on how the drivers performed on this year's WRC season opener

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Back by popular demand, but with a twist, welcome to the first very first WRC driver rankings of the 2025 season.

And the key word there is rankings, not ratings.

The driver ratings feature has proved immensely popular since it debuted in 2020, but we’ve decided to shake it up this season and instead of giving drivers a score out of 10, we are ranking them from 1-10.

So the weakest performing Rally1 driver lines up at 10, down to the best performing at number one. Context, and pre-event expectations, will be factored in.

Let’s crack on with it then: these are the driver rankings from the 2025 Monte Carlo Rally. Let us know if you agree in the comments below.

10 Sami Pajari

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After three encouraging, and in some cases standout, Rally1 drives, Sami Pajari’s first as a full-timer was disappointing.

The obvious talking point was the accident on Sunday morning – a double whammy as the points dropped were scooped by Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville.

But the pace wasn’t particularly inspiring beforehand either. Things will get better in Sweden.

9 Takamoto Katsuta

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Taka gets ahead of Sami here due to the fact his accident wasn’t anywhere near as severe, he was under the weather and he did manage to win a stage during the weekend.

But equally, this wasn’t a vintage performance from Katsuta, who was fairly anonymous in Monte.

Considering the pressure he was under at the back end of last season, this was far from the ideal start to 2025.

8 Josh McErlean

 

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It wasn’t the best look for Josh McErlean that he was behind several Rally2 cars throughout the first half of the Monte, considering he’s now in an M-Sport Puma Rally1 for the full year.

But McErlean is seriously low on experience, so expecting too much more wouldn’t have been fair.

What he absolutely did do (and several others didn’t) was avoid any mistakes and complete every single stage mile. That earned him a respectable seventh place in the rally, and plenty to build on for the rest of the year.

7 Thierry Neuville

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Not a world champion’s performance from the new world champion.

This was a painful contrast to 2024 where Neuville was imperious and laid the foundations for his long-awaited world title. This year, he managed to go off on the same corner twice, failed to win a stage and needlessly hit a rock face on Saturday.

There were mitigating features like leading at the end of Thursday, and dropping his pace as he tested things for his team-mates.

But the 2025 Monte was far from Neuville at his best.

6 Kalle Rovanperä

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Slow. Kalle Rovanperä’s words, not ours.

It’s not an adjective you’d usually direct towards the Finn, but that’s what he felt he was in Monte Carlo.

Bizarrely, it’s hard to disagree. Like Neuville, this was far from Rovanperä at his best as he struggled to adapt his driving style to the new Hankook tire, and generally just looked a little lost.

5 Ott Tänak

Photographer: Vincent ThuillierWorldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

If this was ranked purely on Saturday, then Ott Tänak would be number one. He was absolutely awesome as he carved his way to four stage wins and a sudden podium challenge that seemed so far out of reach.

But the rest of Tänak’s rally was mixed. When it was good it was amazing, but he struggled to replicate that magic touch when the road conditions weren’t so consistent.

He was lucky to get away with just a missing tailgate after that skip through the ditch and collision with a telegraph pole on Friday, too!

4 Grégoire Munster

 

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Grégoire Munster retired twice on the Monte, so how can he rank as high as fourth?

Simple – he massively outperformed what was expected of him.

Yes, road order and conditions played a part in the M-Sport man earning his first stage win, and he did make a classic Monte mistake by understeering on black ice and smacking the front of his car, but Munster was genuinely in the race with the big boys last weekend.

For arguably the first time in his Rally1 career, he looked like he belonged in such esteemed company. An encouraging start to his season.

3 Elfyn Evans

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Podiums are what Elfyn Evans does, but he doesn’t always secure them in such an attacking fashion.

Evans was on the offensive on the Monte, which was brilliant to see from a driver who has often been happy to settle for the points. His powerstage performance was epic as he refused to let Adrien Fourmaux steal his second spot.

It’s too early to deduce whether this is a real turning point for Evans, but he left a lasting impression on round one.

2 Adrien Fourmaux

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It was very hard to pick between Evans and Fourmaux, but Fourmaux gets it considering this was his first start for his Hyundai team.

Last season proved Fourmaux really is the top talent he looked destined to be, but the question was: would the Hyundai move upset that rhythm?

Not a bit, based on the evidence of last weekend. Fast, calculated and ballsy with that super-soft tire choice on Sunday, Fourmaux lit up the Monte and never made the mistake some must have feared was coming.

1 Sébastien Ogier

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It couldn’t be anyone else, could it?

Winning Monte Carlo is routine for Sébastien Ogier, but that doesn’t make it any less impressive.

Ten times he’s conquered his home (and favorite) event now, and that number will only grow if he keeps coming back.

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