"In fact, in the words of one of my colleagues on the last WRC round in Germany, Ford is worse than a charlatan. He described it as a parasite, feeding off M-Sport's success.

"It's utterly ironic that Ford's staunchest support still comes from the man who suffers the most from Dearborn's intransigence. Don't believe me? Watch the post-event press conference at Rally Germany and you'll see [Wilson] wince as Ogier delivers another invitation to Ford to come to the party."