M-Sport’s driver line-up for the 2025 World Rally Championship is “completely up within the air” as hypothesis mounts round the way forward for its present lead driver Adrien Fourmaux.
The Ford squad typically makes its strikes within the driver market late into the yr and this season isn’t any totally different because it plans to discipline two Ford Puma Rally1 automobiles subsequent yr.
The choice to advertise Fourmaux again to its Rally1 programme this yr after a 2023 in Rally2 has paid dividends, with the Frenchman reeling off eight top-five finishes together with 4 podiums (Sweden, Kenya, Poland and Finland).
The run has seen the Frenchman amass solely six factors fewer at this stage of the season in comparison with 2019 world champion Ott Tanak’s 2023 tally, whom he changed this yr.
Fourmaux’s spectacular rise has made the 29-year-old a useful commodity within the service park with the 2023 British rally champion linked with a transfer to Hyundai to pilot the Korean marque’s third automotive for subsequent season.
When requested about his group’s 2025 plans, M-Sport’s group principal Richard Millener maintains that “nothing has been signed with anyone” on the minute.
“It’s completely up within the air and nothing is signed with anyone, all choices on the desk as normal for M-Sport at this level within the yr,” Millener advised Autosport. “We would like the strongest potential group we will get for 2 automobiles for subsequent yr and that’s the aim and what we proceed to push on.”
Adrien Fourmaux, M-Sport Ford World Rally Workforce
Photograph by: M-Sport
The group needs to agree a brand new cope with Fourmaux and has not given up on retaining his providers. Nevertheless, ought to it have to look elsewhere the squad seems to have a shortlist of choices to fill its two seats.
Its different full-time driver Gregoire Munster delivered arguably his finest Rally1 efficiency thus far in Chile, the place he ran as excessive as fourth, matching stage instances on the high of the leaderboard, earlier than ending seventh.
The efficiency arrived after an inconsistent marketing campaign thus far which might bode nicely for his future, though MIllener says the Luxembourger ought to stay targeted on the ultimate two rallies of the season.
“He simply wants to focus on one rally at a time now. He shouldn’t be desirous about how he makes certain he will get a drive subsequent yr,” added Millener. “It must be a case of simply doing the very best he can on every rally and see what comes on the finish of the yr.”
One other driver that M-Sport is maintaining a tally of is Martins Sesks following his trio of Rally1 outings with the group. The 25-year-old’s drives to fifth in Poland adopted by a podium problem in Latvia earlier than a mechanical situation struck has turned heads.
Sesks admitted after his newest outing in Chile that he’s not sure the place his future lies.
“Like he says he doesn’t know what’s subsequent and I don’t know what’s subsequent, there’s a lot up within the air however it was good to offer him that chance as nicely and now we have to see what occurs within the subsequent few weeks,” mentioned Millener.
Outdoors of these two drivers, Autosport expects WRC2 title contenders Oliver Solberg and Yohan Rossel to be on the group’s 2025 driver shortlist.