Usually, it’s DirtFish that rates the drivers out of 10 for their performance on each round of the World Rally Championship.
But, at the end of the year, we’ve decided to do something a bit different. We asked the drivers to rate themselves – and not just for one rally, but their performance over the season as a whole.
Obviously, this isn’t an exact science and each driver will have their own criteria. So their ratings may not be directly comparable but they still give a fascinating insight into how they reflect on their own performance.
Sadly not all drivers were available when we asked the questions at the end of Rally Japan, but to make up for that we’ve also included some who aren’t usually seen behind the steering wheel in the WRC.
Here’s what they said… but remember, it’s not to be taken too seriously!
Thierry Neuville 9.5/10
Despite the return of Ott Tänak to the fold, Thierry Neuville effectively led the line for Hyundai all season. He got off to a perfect start with a maximum score on the Monte Carlo Rally, then added another victory on the Acropolis en route to a long-awaited maiden world title.
But it wasn’t enough for the 36-year-old to give himself a maximum score.
“It wasn’t perfect, but it was good,” Neuville reflected. “It’s hard to say. I would give myself a nine.”
Told that DirtFish would have given him 9.5, Neuville didn’t argue: “Yeah, I agree with that.”
Martijn Wydaeghe 9/10
Driver ratings are normally confined to the men behind the wheel. But, having secured his own co-drivers’ championship – in only his fourth year at the top level – we let the person who sat beside Neuville all year rate his own performance too.
“Let’s see if you will do the same with me,” said Martijn Wydaeghe when told that DirtFish upped Neuville’s own assessment from nine to 9.5.
“I give myself a nine. Ten is perfection and we are not perfect. I mean, nobody is. I know that sometimes Colin is giving drivers a 10, which is OK. But I believe that it’s good to keep yourself with a little margin. There is always room for improvement. It’s the only way to perform better and better.
“So, yeah, a nine on 10 is quite good. But at the end, this nine on 10 does not change my life. But being champion, this is changing my life. So I’m really happy with that.”
Cyril Abiteboul 7.5/10
The second non-driver in our ‘driver’ ratings is Hyundai team principal Cyril Abiteboul. Under Abiteboul’s watch, Hyundai secured its first-ever WRC drivers’ title this year. Its drivers won five rallies over the season – equaling its best –and it led the way in the manufacturers’ championship for most of the year.
But Hyundai ended up being pipped at the post by Toyota for the makes’ title, leaving mixed emotions for the Alzenau-based squad and its boss.
“7.5” was Abiteboul’s assessment of his own season, dismissing the notion that achieving the team’s objective of winning the drivers’ title could justify a perfect score.
“Not 10, no, of course not,” he added. “Thierry achieved his objective and we helped Thierry achieve his objective. And I think we can do so much more with what we are given, actually, by Hyundai. Great people, great location, great facilities, great budget, frankly.
“We can do better than that, so that’s why it will be 7.5.”
Elfyn Evans 6.5/10
Runner-up in the world championship for the fourth time in five seasons, Elfyn Evans is perhaps getting sick of always being the bridesmaid.
But while there may have been only one driver ahead of him in this year’s drivers’ standings, it was Ott Tänak rather than Evans who still had a shot at the tile on the final round.
But the Welshman did win that final round of the season in Japan to claim his only win of 2024, while part-time team-mates Sébastien Ogier and Kalle Rovanperä snared seven between them. So it’s little wonder the 35-year-old doesn’t rate his own season particularly highly.
“I have to not make myself look too bad now!” he laughed. “Six and a half.”
Sébastien Ogier 7/10
Eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier was almost unwillingly thrust into the title fight in the second half of this year, having finished first or second on each of his first six outings of a part-time campaign.
Becoming Toyota’s best hope for a drivers’ title challenge, Ogier ended up missing only three of the 13 rounds. But crashes on three consecutive events derailed his charge.
He finished with a fine drive in Japan that yielded second overall (despite an early puncture) and a crucial powerstage win that clinched the manufacturers’ title for Toyota.
“I don’t know, it’s hard to say,” said Ogier when asked to rate his season. “I haven’t been perfect and I would love to be perfect, but I believe nobody is.
“I’m still chasing for it, but I think there is many ways to be satisfied in my season. Seven podiums in 10 races is not bad at all, I think. Average points scored per rally were probably the best.
“I’m quite happy with the way I improved the performance during the end of the year, but I haven’t been perfect in those races, and it would have been required to be perfect if I wanted to play for the championship doing a part-time championship [schedule], so no regret on that.
“I enjoyed it and it was a bit of a paradox because I had so much fun in the car on those four rallies but couldn’t win any of them, so that’s the way it goes sometimes.
“I don’t know – maybe a seven out of 10. It’s like my number of podiums!”
When DirtFish suggested he deserved eight, Ogier responded: “I can’t put myself too high and I don’t like to do that anyway. I like that you do this job.”
Sami Pajari 9/10
At the start of the season, Sami Pajari’s sole focus was his WRC2 campaign in the new Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. By the end of it, not only had he scored three wins en route to the WRC2 title, he had also enjoyed three outings in the make’s Rally1 car and earned a full 2025 season in one.
That is some going by anyone’s standards, but not enough for Pajari to award himself full marks.
“Something like nine,” he told DirtFish. “I think it’s a solid nine. It depends what kind of pointing system you have in your country.”
Why not 10? “There is always room to improve,” he explained, displaying the attitude required to get to the top.
Adrien Fourmaux 8/10
The 2024 season was a breakthrough campaign for M-Sport Ford’s lead driver. After being demoted to Rally2 for a year, Fourmaux scored his maiden WRC podium on Rally Sweden – just his second outing back at the top table.
The Frenchman then added another next time out in Kenya, and scored a further three third-place finishes before the season was out to finish fifth in the drivers’ standings – attracting Hyundai in the process who he will now drive for in 2025.
Fourmaux reckoned it was worthy of a score of eight in our rankings.
He explained: “Two is missing because we had some technical issues and we missed some performance sometimes also from my side in some rallies.
“But we have been competitive in every rally, but the perfect would be at least on the podium of the championship [standings].”
