Without official Ford support, M-Sport won't have the money to develop the car, hence it'll become the worst choice for him.
Printable View
Paddon insists 2018 is his year for the push, which means he needs to be in the main car for the whole 2018 season, yet David Evans writes this:
''Hyundai has remained tight-lipped on next season, but Autosport's sources have confirmed Mikkelsen is expected to tackle a full season along with Thierry Neuville next year. Paddon and Sordo are expected to share a third i20 Coupe.''
Meh.
Citroen said that they donīt have money for 4 cars in Catalonia, maybe that is also reason for not hiring Mikkelsen ?
How can they make deal with Ogier, he is 10x more expensive than Mikkelsen ?
I still donīt believe that M-Sport and Citroen are Ogierīs only choices.
Unless a new manufacturer is coming (0% chance for that now), Ogier's choices is either Ford or Citroen. And possibly in both cases with reduced wages...
Ogier also said he could retire if 'everything isnt in place'...
I think its quite possible if he can go out winning the title with a different team... something Loeb didnt do.
Citroen will find the money for a driver like Seb, but not Mikkelsen. Just like they would've found room for Ogier at the beginning of this year but not Andreas or Jari. Ogier probably feels he has unfinished business there, and it cannot be underestimated how important winning a championship with 3 different manufacturers could be for someone like Seb, who has nearly done it all now.
Almost a no lose situation for him. He has nothing to prove to anyone, with him highly likely to win a title away from the VW domination. He goes to Citroen on a nice big long term contract, French driver/French team, with the aim of returning them to the top of the sport. If he wins another title he's a god and regains a lot of support from the French people who still aren't huge on him, and if he struggles everyone will just blame the car which we know is currently the worst anyway (although i still dont think its fundamentally flawed, and can be turned into a title challenger)
Strange news today. I guess it's the manufacturers title that they are chasing. Isn't Msport a bit too far ahead though? I'd be amazed if they manage.