Originally Posted by
er88
Give Neuville a full season in the new car first, before lynching him.
Anyone remember McRae's horrible run of form in 1999 and into 2000, when he was driving a car that wasn't yet good enough? After wins in safari and portugal in 1999, McRae didnt score points untill Sweden the following year. A truly horrible run of form, and there were a lot of accidents during that spell, not just reliabilityy issues..
He didn't throw in the towel as such, but as a driver who believed he was quick enough to compete with anyone, its only natural his motivation/concentration/focus might have dipped ever so slighty. Even just by 1%. And thats when mistakes creep in/ pace drops a little. I personally think the same has happened with Thierry (although i could easily be wrong).
Thierry rightly or wrongly thinks he can push Ogier if he had a good car. He believes in his abilities. He had a great year at Ford finishinng 2nd in the championship, spent a year developing the Hyundai but still won his first rally. So i bet he really felt he could push on this year and challenge Ogier when the new car was meant to arrive. But after finding out it was to be delayed till next season, its understandable his motivation might have dipped slighty.
So he's in a tricky situation, he has to push beyond his limits just to fightt for a podium because the car isn't great (by doing this he'll probably crash a lot). Or he can drive at 90% and drive around trying to collect 5th or 6th place. He will probably get criticised either way. Also, he doesnt have a place in the team to win/ a new contract to gain. He is safe and doesnt need to fight for his immediate future. Whereas Paddon had to show great speed this year or his chances of getting a full drive in 2016 would have been bleak. So that could be another reason for being "outpaced" by his teamate recently. Admittedly, it would be complacency if that was the case.
He has suffered a dip in form, but i think the reason everyone is on his back so much is because we desperately need someone to challenge Ogier. And Neuville was/is the big hope. That's a lot of expectation, but people need to get real. He is still young and is driving a car that isn't a VW beater whatsoever. He should be judged this time next year, after a full season in what Hyundai claim to be a car capable of challenging the VW. If he is still crashing or getting outpaced by Paddon and others, then that's when he deserves all the criticism he gets.
