Hirvonen happy to slow if needed

The younger of the two Finns has comfortably led the event since it started on Friday morning, but he hopes that he will be able to do something to help Gronholm lift the title.

Sebastien Loeb only needs to finish in the top five to win the title if Gronholm wins the rally, but if the French driver retires then Ford will not need to switch their drivers' positions.

However, Gronholm would need to win the rally if Loeb only dropped to sixth or seventh position.

"If Sebastien drops to P6, then yeah, maybe I drop back for Marcus," said Hirvonen. "I hope I can do something to help him, but at the moment I can't."

Hirvonen has controlled the season finale so far, but he insists that he has not been given special permission from Ford to drive for himself rather than back-up Gronholm this weekend.

"There have been no instructions," he told autosport.com. "I haven't really had to drive for Marcus all season.

"The team have said that we are allowed to drive for ourselves all year, but I'm just able to take more risks here than those guys (Gronholm and Loeb) this time."