Quote Originally Posted by mknight View Post
When was getting Ogier instead of Mikkelsen an option?
After Germany Mikkelsen was available and wanted to drive next rallies. Citroen let him go and Hyundai took him. While he certainly wanted a salary I guess it was quite a lot below Ogier-money.

- if Hyundai have the money they are likely still in talks with Ogier (rumors seem to suggest this)
- if they don't have this kind of money they could have passed on Mikkelsen (who might have ended somewhere else, or not) and waited if they can get Ogier "cheap" after Citroen and M-Sport didn't get him

Note that Citroen basically went for the second option, time will tell if that was clever. In any case for Citroen it wasn't Ogier or Mikkelsen, it's Mikkelsen for sure or maybe Ogier.
You have a point and that could be how things went but my question is still valid. If Hyundai is there to win the WRC, why they didn't pick the driver who would have assured that?
The situation of other drivers, their lineup opinions, even the organization of budget (which I don't think is lower than other teams), all is secondary in my opinion.

Ogier would have accepted soon, they have a strong car, a strong organization, full backing from the company and they are based in Germany, which is good for him and his family.