No doubt Ott has landed a huge contract but I'm surprised he agreed to this move so early. The deal has been done for a while now if the rumours are correct, which I find a bit strange considering everything Malcolm has done for him. Don't know why he couldn't have waited a month or two longer, even just up to Spain/Wales to give Malcolm every chance to get Ford back or a title sponsor.

I also hope this doesn't mirror Duvals move to Citroen from Ford, or Martin's move to Peugeot. Both went for the money and lure of a team with a bigger budget, but both found it very difficult adjusting to a new car and finding the same pace they had. Mikko moving to Citroen was a similar case and Jari to VW slightly less so, but he still lost quite a bit of his raw speed for the first year especially. Drivers do find it difficult after leaving Ford/ Msport, that's just a historical fact. I hope it will be different for Ott because no doubt this season has been a huge step forward for him, in every single aspect. He's been brilliant.

Surely with Martin being Tanaks mentor somewhat, they've talked this through - the positives and the negatives. Given Otts age, he's got time on his side and I would have recommended to stay at Msport for one more season - even without the huge finance (if Malcolm can't get anything sorted). It's *his* car and he'd go into next season as maybe a title favourite (especially if seb goes to Citroen). Now he's lost that advantage and drivers like Jari and Neuville will start next season in cars that they are used to, and have fine tuned to their driving style. Even worse for Ott's championship hopes would be Seb staying at Msport, and starting a new season in the same car and building on his already great form.

The big contract for multiple years, the lure of being part of a big manufacturer team, and being based in Finland/ Estonia obviously made it too hard to resist and i can clearly see why he decided to go for it, but I just think he could have waited another year for this move.
Stay at Msport and have a big go for the title, then next year if the development slows up or there's still no signs of extra budget, Ott would not only have the option of Toyota for 2019, but Citroen and Hyundai as well (considering both of those teams would have multiple drivers out of contract).

Let's hope he has no trouble adapting to the Yaris and continues his upward trajectory though, because there's no doubt he's capable of being a championship winner. He has the speed now on all surfaces and the consistency as well. Toyota have exceeded a lot of expectations this year and the car is fast, but is quite a bit behind the Fiesta in terms of reliability and being good on all surfaces - the Yaris needs a bit of work on rougher gravel rallies.

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