lol..i dont understand how you can say this, because if you dont remember then his rally lasted basically only for one stage and at that time he was leading the rally. His first split time on SS2 was only bettered by Paddon in the end.
He was definitely struggling in sardegna on friday, he just couldnt get rid of the massive understeer. The same was in Corsica.
In mexico all the Toyotas were struggling due engine overheating but he was still 3rd end of day 1 and only 11 secs from the lead.