Quote Originally Posted by er88 View Post
Lappi is hardly a clear loss for Toyota and Makinen was never sold on him anyway, you could tell that by the dynamic between the two and the fact that Lappi didn't feel wanted/loved, so left for Citroen. Makinen speaks about how Kalle was ahead of Lappi and Suninen in 2016 when it came to testing the Yaris on a test stage in Finland, it's clear Kalle has been earmarked to be the chosen one at Toyota long term.

Lappi hasn't improved and you could also say gone backwards in some cases since his breakthrough season. The fact Toyota didnt keep him isn't a reflection on anything rotten at the team, it's just a consequence of the driver market and Tommi liking other drivers better (Meeke short term, Kalle long term, and Tanak being the main man in the team in 2018/19).
Tommi was the one who hired Lappi back in 2016 and wanted to keep him for 2019.