Quote Originally Posted by Lundefaret View Post
I dont think its that easy Jack4688.
Matton is in the same situation as Mäkinen, in that he needs to check with the factory what the strategy is/will be for the 2017 season - and beyond. And here we are talking about the marketing strategy, since every factory rally effort is a prolonged arm of the marketing department.
So for Matton, the questions will be:

1) Drivers championship or Manufacturer championship or both?
- If the main goal (not normal in Citroën) is the drivers championhsip, then they could have Meeke handle that, and this would open up for a younger, more inexperienced driver in the second seat. (Breen, Levfebre, Tanak, Sunninen, Lappi, Tideman, etc etc.)
- If the manufaturer championship is the aim, he wants to combine Meeke with an experienced driver that can go about collecting points in as many rallies as possible. Then the list is something like:
Neuville, Sordo, Østberg

2) How important are the nationality of the driver(s)?
- Would it be feasible that the marketing departement will allow an all Irish team?
- Would they want a French driver (Levefebre) or a French speaking one (Neuville?)

I think this is why its totally understandable that Matton has as many as 10 drivers on his list, and also I the answer to these questions is needed before he makes up his mind.

The same goes for Tommi: What is the aim for 2017, and 2018? How much risk do they want to take, do they want results from the first rally, or do they want to build for the future - etc etc
There should be one more
3) or 1.5) If FIA changes the manufacturer points scoring rules so the best 2 of 3 will score points then most of the young guns can actually forget about having a factory seat. In this case the third car couldn't be driven by anybody inexperienced if a team wants to maximize its chances.