Tänak entered a corner at excessive speed and crashed heavily. This not only secured his teammate Thierry Neuville’s first-ever drivers’ championship but also played a significant role in determining the manufacturers’ title.
Tänak’s crash opened the door for Toyota to fully commit to chasing the manufacturers’ crown. Toyota capitalised on the opportunity and clinched the title by a narrow three-point margin. Had Tänak stayed on the road, it’s highly likely that Hyundai would have left Japan with both titles.
Hyundai team principal Cyril Abiteboul was understandably displeased with the situation. He delivered uncharacteristically harsh feedback to the Estonian driver, albeit only through the media so far.
“I haven’t said anything because I haven’t seen him. We have not been crossing paths,” Abiteboul began.
“I asked him to come over to be with the team for the first stage, and I was glad to see on TV that he was there, but I was up at that stage, so I haven’t seen him in person. We exchanged messages through WhatsApp, which obviously is not the right way to debrief something like that. So, we’ll talk later,” Abiteboul continued.
Tänak’s aggressive approach on the final day surprised Abiteboul, as it wasn’t necessary.
“To be honest, I still struggle to measure the extent to which they understand the risk level they are taking in these scenarios. This isn’t circuit racing, where lap after lap, you can say ‘You need to go one-tenth faster or one-tenth slower, adjust here, adjust there.’ It’s not like that. In rallying,” Abiteboul criticised.
“Sometimes something seems obvious to us, but it might not be to them. To me, it was completely clear that they were going way too fast. Was it clear to them? I don’t know. I really don’t know.”
Abiteboul emphasised that Tänak had been given clear instructions, but for some reason, the message didn’t get through.
“The messages beforehand were clear – super clear. There was absolutely no necessity for such a crazy push. The target this morning, I believe, was to finish P3 to P5 – not P1, not P2, but P3 to P5. So, there was no need to push that hard. But the key question I still have today is: to what extent do they understand or measure when they are on such a big push?,” Abiteboul reflected.
What makes Tänak’s mistake even more striking is that he was the last car to start the stage and should have been aware of the situation.
“He was starting last, so you could argue – and I believe – that he would have known the situation. I asked, and there was phone coverage at the start of the stage. However, there’s no split-time information in the car. I have to admit that I still lack experience in knowing their ability to assess such situations” Abiteboul admitted.
“That’s something that was already a big frustration for me last year. We had discussions about it last year, and I failed to implement a system to communicate with the drivers before or after each stage about the level of risk that needs to be taken. This is an area where we need to improve. Maybe Toyota is doing better – I don’t know their internal processes or communication protocols,” Abiteboul added.
Although Abiteboul acknowledged some fault on his part, he placed the primary responsibility on the driver.
“Having said that, it’s a clear disappointment, particularly after everything he’s done and the support he’s received from the team. I think we’ve been pretty strong in terms of reliability. We’ve provided him with a very reliable car this year. It wasn’t always as fast as he wanted, nor did it always behave or balance exactly how he would have liked. But I think it’s been a good platform overall.”
“I want to believe that we are all going to learn and improve from this accident. Because if he has a target – which I believe he does – he needs to step up in this area. That’s for sure,” Abiteboul concluded.
