The team principal of M-Sport Ford, Richard Millener, says that his team wants to keep Ott Tanak next season, but he is aware that his driver's decision will not be easy considering the so far results.
M-Sport Ford signed Ott Tanak for 2023 as the last one left Hyundai prematurely at the end of 2022 while his contract with the Malcolm Wilson's team will expire at the end of this season. So far, the 2019 WRC Champion won only once in Sweden and has another one podium finish back at Croatia Rally, but generally his Puma suffered from reliability issues which were related to the turbo, the engine and the suspension. He is currently in fourth place at the drivers' championship, 66 points behind the championship leader Kalle Rovanpera, after the end of Rally Finland and must recover 24 points in Greece compared to the Toyota driver if he wants to remain in the title fight.
"Negotiations are always easier when you win", Millener said.
"I don't know what the other teams are doing and I don't know what options are in the other teams.
"We have to be realistic in what we can achieve as well.
"We are pushing as hard as we possibly can and to go any steps further with what we are doing is hard.
"We will have to talk over the next couple of months and I don't think it is going to be a quick decision.
"I think we all don't want to lose Ott.
"He has been fantastic for the championship alone, but also for us to continue to have him in the team.
"But it is never a quick and easy answer.
"I don't know if he will go to another manufacturer or not.
"I don't know what Ott will do but from our side, we would love to have him in the team.
"We have made a lot of progress and we would love to continue it.
"We all know we can do better than what we are, and if we had a good run of luck it might be a completely different story.
"If we had few a more good results we would probably be having a completely different discussion".
Source: Motorsport.com
Photo Credits: M-Sport
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