Sebastien Ogier says he is not interested in speculating about the breakdown of Ott Tanak’s relationship with the Toyota World Rally Championship team, following Tanak’s 2020 switch to Hyundai.
Ogier admitted that Tanak’s decision to move was a surprise. Autosport first revealed Tanak would leave Toyota for Hyundai after failing to agree terms to extend his stay with the Japanese manufacturer.
Ogier will now attempt to end his WRC career with a seventh title at his new team Toyota after opting to leave Citroen following a single campaign.
Asked how he intended to survive his season with Toyota, Ogier told Autosport: “I’m not sure we need to use this word, ‘surviving.’
“I don’t see it like this. I had some quick discussions with Ott, like everyone we all got a bit surprised to see he was leaving this team where he got the championship for the first time.
“But, at the end of the day, you cannot share all of that. You have to make your own experience.
“For me, honestly, I’m looking forward to working with the team. Tommi was my childhood hero from the end of the nineties.”
Ogier confirmed his Toyota deal covers just one season as his plans for retirement remain on course for the end of 2020.
“It’s a one-year contract,” said Ogier. “My plan hasn’t changed.
“And, of course, I would still love the last title, especially with a third different brand, but that’s not really the thing I have in mind when I start the season.
“What I have in mind is, yes, of course, I am a fighter and a winner and when I start the competition, I start it to win it.
“I’m not thinking this is the last chance or anything like this. I had an already amazing career, and anything I can add on to that would be great.”
Ogier joins team-mates Elfyn Evans, Kalle Rovanpera and Katsuta Takamoto in the French Alps this week as Toyota continues its 2020 season preparations by testing for the Monte Carlo Rally.
Nineteen-year-old Rovanpera was first to test the Yaris WRC on Wednesday before Evans got his first taste of Toyota power on Friday and Saturday.
Ogier was scheduled to be running on Sunday and Monday and Katsuta concludes the test on Tuesday.