Reading too much into a rally as unpredictable as Monte Carlo can, at times, be a fool’s game.
But when it opens the curtain on a brand-new season of world championship rallying, we can’t not take some clues from it to carry forward into the rest of the year.
In 2025 there was familiarity in terms of the winner, but plenty of intrigue, and perhaps surprise, further down the leaderboard. A new stage winner, a podium for a driver debuting at a new team and a stumbling start to a title defense: the Monte wasn’t short of storylines.
This is what we learned from the 2025 Monte Carlo Rally:
Neuville needs a new title-winning route
Neuville's title defense requires a rethink after a Monte result in stark contrast to last year's
Thierry Neuville wasn’t always the clear and obvious bet for the 2024 title, but the Belgian led the championship from start to finish courtesy of that swashbuckling 30-pointer in Monte Carlo last year.
His defense however has started in a very different fashion.
It had all been going so well for the new #1 – leading the rally after Thursday’s trio of night stages and second as Friday morning broke out. But a mistake at a hairpin, outbraking himself and smashing his suspension, cost him over two minutes and dumped him to ninth.
That wasn’t even the worst of it. Remarkably, Neuville went off on the exact same corner on the second pass – this time because of a puncture – and lost a further two minutes. Any hope of strong points were gone, and somehow even further obliterated when he had to stop on Saturday’s opener to reset his i20 as it lost power.
Accidents for Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari gained Neuville two positions and rescued his weekend somewhat, but a measly one point from Super Sunday leaves the defending champion just sixth in the standings and only three points clear of Rally1 rookie Josh McErlean.
If Neuville is going to become world champion again he won’t be doing it from the front. Instead, he’ll have to do it the hard way.
Rovanperä has work to do
Plenty to ponder for the returning two-time champ, who'll hope for better things in Sweden
The man many predicted to be the favorite this year’s title hardly made an electric start to his return to full-time WRC action either, though.
Kalle Rovanperä called it before the start: he wouldn’t be going all-out to try and win the Monte. Points would be his priority. But he would’ve hoped to have had a bit more speed.
When it was working, Rovanperä was his usual relentless best. But on drier stages, he couldn’t quite get on top of the new Hankook tire – saying it didn’t suit his driving style.
There were times where he simply looked lost and confused why the pace the world expected wasn’t forthcoming. Overhauling Ott Tänak on the powerstage was some consolation, as is the fact Monte has never been his rally, but already the Finn will be chomping at the bit to get to Sweden and put this behind him.
Munster steps out from the shadows
Inspired tire choices and maiden stage win were highlights for M-Sport's new number one
There weren’t many who’d have picked Grégoire Munster as one of the strongest performers of 2024. But last weekend? Not such a mental shout!
With Adrien Fourmaux’s departure to Hyundai over the off-season, M-Sport was in need of a new lead driver. Pre-event, Munster promised he could be that man – hoping to emulate what Fourmaux managed last term.
Monte Carlo wasn’t quite a Fourmaux-level performance, but it was certainly a lot better than Munster’s usual level. The tire choice (no studs for Friday morning’s loop) was mega, and his performance on Saturday’s opener was sensational to claim his very first WRC stage win.
There was no result to match, with an electrical problem forcing him into retirement on the way back to end-of-day service on Friday, and then a moment where he was caught out on black ice ending his rally for good on Sunday.
Disappointing for sure, but in a year where neither team nor driver are challenging for a championship that almost doesn’t matter.
Munster proved there really is potential within him, and equally composure with his reluctance to get carried away after his scratch time. The rest of his season could be more interesting than many had predicted.
Fourmaux can be a title contender
Champagne-slinging Fourmaux has his eyes on higher steps
Adrien Fourmaux insisted going for the championship was not his target in 2025. A top-three placing come Saudi Arabia would do instead.
But on the evidence of Monte Carlo, why can’t he be in the mix?
Fast, measured and already very comfortable with his new 2025 ride, Fourmaux’s only limit could be intra-team politics. But starting the season with a podium on debut for his new team, and as the highest-placed Hyundai, was a brilliant message to send to his bosses.
And the bravery to make that super-soft tire call on Sunday was simply mega, and indicative of a driver full of confidence.
Fourmaux has no plans on merely being Hyundai’s number three.
Ogier’s Monte mastery continues
10 up for the Monte master after another sublime performance
It would’ve taken a very brave person to bet against Sébastien Ogier winning this year’s Monte Carlo Rally. After all, he’d finished either first or second in each of the past 12 editions.
That record now stands at 13 – and nine of those have been victories. Ogier’s name has been etched onto the winners’ trophy a record-extending 10 times. Yet again, he was the one who mastered the art of managing the risks and controlling the rally better than anyone else.
That’s not to say it was always plain-sailing; a heart-stopping moment on Thursday night left him down in third, while a moment with a bank on Friday proved how tricky everything was. But by the afternoon he was in the lead and didn’t look back.
Controlled, composed and classy, Ogier still has it all. His uncle would be very proud indeed.
Evans and Tänak look reformed
Finishing first or second on past four WRC rounds puts focus on Evans' title-winning credentials
As we laid out in the intro, getting carried away by trends from the season opener isn’t wise. But all we have to go off so far in 2025 is what Monte Carlo provided, and on that basis 2025 could be a prosperous year for Elfyn Evans and Ott Tänak.
The former was in inspired form on round one. Cutting a relaxed and almost carefree figure, Evans showed he can drive on the offensive. Having all but conceded second to Fourmaux, he pumped in a mega powerstage performance to take that position for himself.
As for Tänak, it was a rally of two halves. He was sublime on Saturday’s dry Tarmac with four stage wins from six, but struggled to replicate that form on Sunday – instead dropping behind Rovanperä rather than challenging for the podium that his form the previous day had made look inevitable.
But like Rovanperä, Monte has never been Tänak’s rally. Sweden will be a key indicator of where he’s at, but perhaps the biggest takeaway is how much friendlier he was with the media. While that doesn’t necessarily breed performance, it suggests he’s happy with where he’s at. And when a driver’s happy, they don’t tend to be travelling slowly.