Well, everyone makes mistakes, maybe i could be wrong in this also, but when you have three men fighting for the wins (apart from latvala in Australia) and you are in third position, only way to get in front, is to be faster than your rivals, who happen to win or score big on every event... When you are already at the front, it is about controlling and not going flat out all the time...and he managed that quite well, if you look at the standings throughout the year. Ogier himself has said, that the last rounds he was in all or nothing mode aka going for it at all cost or binning while doing it.
But being points behind, you can`t count on your luck/ others bad luck like some championships have been decided...