Amid talk of Hyundai potentially pulling its manufacturer team out of the World Rally Championship, one thing is for sure: it remains committed to the WRC next year.
It has superstar drivers Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak signed up for 2025, but what about its third seat?
Having previously suggested the squad may break with tradition and field a full-time driver in its third car next year, team principal Cyril Abiteboul has admitted he is in no rush to make a decision.
In fact, with M-Sport’s lead driver Adrien Fourmaux often being linked to Hyundai, Abiteboul is keen to consider the moves his team’s rivals make before assessing the market.
“We are going to take a bit of time for the third car,” Abiteboul told DirtFish. “I think, like we did last year, Ott was signed actually fairly early, so that we had a bit of time for the third car. So I’ll do a bit of the same, you know, seeing also what’s going on on Toyota’s side.
“I think you would be silly not to analyze your competition when you have to make such a decision. So that’s something that I want to see. What’s the option? What’s available? I don’t want to exclude any option at this point in time. I would not be professional if I were. So frankly, let’s look at every option and we’ll make the decision in the right time.”
With the futures of current drivers Esapekka Lappi, Andreas Mikkelsen and the long-serving Dani Sordo uncertain, Abiteboul is not ruling out a continuation of the existing approach of seat-sharing.
“No, it’s still to be decided,” he added when pressed on the subject. “It’s still very much an option. We felt that it was the right thing to do this year in response to the particular situation of Toyota.
“Was it the right thing to do? Was it not the right thing to do? I think it’s still a bit early to say. I’m still hesitant on the answer to give to that question.
“Would it be a requirement for next year [to have drivers sharing a car]? It may still be a requirement for next year. And if it is a requirement, obviously, we should still look for that option.
“And we’re also having discussions with EP and Andreas and Dani, who are also all doing, to a different level, an excellent job with us this year. So they should also be given the opportunity to have discussions and that’s what we are doing.”
