What Tanak's exit means for Hyundai and the WRC

The fallout of Ott Tanak’s decision to take a break from full-time competition in the World Rally Championship is still being felt and that’s no surprise, it is seismic news in the rally world.

The possibility of Tanak ending his full-time WRC career for now had been discussed around the service park, but the fact the 2019 world champion won’t be lining up at Monte Carlo in January next year will take a while to sink in.

The 38-year-old’s decision to leave Hyundai at the end of the year, which he says is “not a complete goodbye” and a chance to “reset, recharge and refocus for the future”, and spend more time with his young family, is totally understandable and should be respected and commended. The reaction from his peers and those in the service park has reflected that, such is the level of respect held for arguably the fastest driver, pound-for-pound, in the WRC right now. There is no doubt he will be missed by his rivals and the fans alike.

Competing in the WRC at the highest level is not something one can do lightly. It requires 100% commitment to tackle some of the world’s most intense events that necessitate meticulous preparation and testing. By the end of the year Tanak will have chalked up 176 WRC starts with his debut in 2009. Since then he has scored 22 wins, 58 podiums, one world title and 434 stage wins, which is fair innings.

Being a topflight WRC driver is one of the most coveted drives in world motorsport that only 10 people currently have the chance to do, but it does come with many sacrifices that are magnified if you have a young family. Tanak isn’t the first driver that has felt the need to put family first and won’t be the last.

What now for Hyundai as it searches for Tanak replacement?

Tanak’s decision does however leave a rather significant set of boots to fill at Hyundai for 2026 - a prospect that won’t be easily given the talent that has departed.

Being a WRC driver requires total commitment and many sacrifices

Photo by: Hyundai Motorsport

Hyundai were not completely blindsided by Tanak’s call. They knew it was a possibility and had been drawing up a shortlist of potential replacements should it be unable to enact its ‘Plan A’ to retain its current driver line-up of Tanak, 2024 world champion Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux.

The Korean marque has made it clear that next year it wants to be in position to offer Toyota a much tougher fight for the WRC titles. But achieving that without Tanak will be hard, as there is a dearth of drivers of the Estonian calibre that boast Rally1 experience available to slide into the vacant i20 N seat.

When it comes to finalising its line-up for 2026, Hyundai will have to decide whether its best option is to appoint one driver or revert to the shared driver role it had previously operated for its third car prior to this year. Hyundai’s new sporting director Andrew Wheatley told Autosport that it has been working on a Plan B and Plan C for 2026 and has drivers options both young and experienced.

Whoever does fill the seat at Hyundai will be coming into the WRC landscape that will look and feel different next year

"I think we are very clear about the target for next year, which is to be as competitive as we can. It is the last year of Rally1, and we need to make sure we have the best possible performance," said Wheatley prior to Tanak’s announcement.

“When you are looking at the different options, absolutely, you want to bring young drivers into the team because they are full of energy, but we also have to balance that against making sure they are competitive. You need people with either speed or experience or both, but that is not easy.”

Logic would suggest that should it want to go down the experience route, then calling on the services of the dependable Dani Sordo, Teemu Suninen and Andreas Mikkelsen would fit the bill. The trio have all piloted the i20 N and would require little time to get up to speed and deliver results. But if Hyundai has an eye on the long term then snapping up a younger driver with unrealised potential in the top tier would make more sense. The likes of Martins Sesks, who has starred for M-Sport in Rally1 machinery, or WRC2 stars Yohan Rossel and Nikolay Gryazin could turn out to be shrewd signings with the future in mind.

Hyundai is weighing up its options to replace Tanak in its line-up, with youth vs experience a key factor

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Adding to the complexity of the situation is the fact Hyundai’s future in the WRC beyond 2026 is yet to be confirmed, which could make the seat less attractive given the long-term future of the team is unclear. Although, it must be said that in recent weeks there have been more encouraging signs with the arrival of Wheatley and the appointments of a new head of engineering and operations director both of whom have rally experience.

There will be some big decisions to be made over the next few days at Hyundai with an outcome expected before the Saudi Arabia season finale later this month.

Is this the start of a changing of the guard?

Whoever does fill the seat at Hyundai will be coming into the WRC landscape that will look and feel different next year, as Tanak is not the only superstar that will be absent from the service park.

Two-time world champion Kalle Rovanpera will also vacate his seat at Toyota and will instead pursue a career in single-seaters, beginning in Japan’s Super Formula. Rovanpera’s decision is in some ways less of a surprise than Tanak given the fact the 25-year-old has always had an interest in other forms of motorsport, and is not driven by the opportunity to become the greatest of all time.

The WRC is therefore currently going through a transitional period with a change of commercial rights holder for 2026 and new technical regulations for 2027. On the driver front, the departures of Tanak and Rovanpera could mark the start of a transitional to a new generation, with Sebastien Ogier (42), Elfyn Evans (36) and Thierry Neuville (37) closer to the end of their careers than the start.

There is no hiding away from the fact that losing two world champion superstar drivers from the field is a blow for the WRC. Fans of course want to see the best drivers going toe-to-toe with each other, and 2026 does now seem likely to be a transitional year.

WRC is facing a transitional year with the departures of Rovanpera and Tanak

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

But this isn’t something endemic of the WRC. All sports have to go through a changing of the guard. MotoGP had to face life without Valentino Rossi and the same could be said in Formula 1 when Michael Schumacher retired.

The upshot of a changing of the guard is it does create opportunities for fresh faces to become the next WRC superstars, according to Toyota boss Jari-Matti Latvala.

“Tanak taking a break and Kalle doing something else opens up positions and motivates young drivers to get to the top of the sport,” Toyota boss Latvala told Autosport. “I think the 2026 season might look a little bit difficult, but I think quite soon the young drivers will fill up those positions. I’m not worried about it. I think 2026 might be tough, but going towards 2027, we will already have new drivers fighting for the victories.”

"It is clear that at some point there will be a generation change. Is it now or in a few years? Most likely it will come soon" Sami Pajari

The good news for the WRC is that Toyota has named newly crowned WRC2 champion Oliver Solberg as Rovanpera’s replacement, which will bring some star power back to the championship. Having the Solberg name back in rallying’s topflight will provide a much-needed boost. The 24-year-old Swede, known for his impressive speed, passion and flamboyance, is already one of the most followed on social media, which will help bring perhaps a bigger audience to the WRC at a crucial time.

Solberg’s team-mate for 2026, Sami Pajari, 23, also represents the start of a new generation that are hungry to be the stars of the future.

“The whole sport is now in an interesting position with two of the recent world champions are retiring basically,” Pajari told Autosport. “Someone is leaving but there is a new face [Solberg] in Rally1, so it is quite exciting.

“That is why we are here and what we are aiming for [to be the superstars of the sport]. I saw some discussion online where the ages of the current drivers were listed and quite many of them are in their thirties, and people like myself and Oliver are a bit more than 20-years-old. It is clear that at some point there will be a generation change. Is it now or in a few years? Most likely it will come soon, it is exciting times.”

The WRC is waving goodbye to Tanak, for now at least, with a changing of the guard under way

Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport