Estonian rally driver Ott Tänak 11th in final WRC race
Ott Tänak finished 11th at Rally Saudi Arabia, his last race for Hyundai before taking a break from top-level rallying.
Sébastien Ogier (France) won his ninth world title, pipping Toyota teammate Elfyn Evans (Wales) to the post in the season's finale.
Tänak's teammate at Hyundai, Thierry Neuville, who was reigning world champion right up until the race, took his sole 2025 victory.
Neuville's victory was one of only two non-Toyota race wins this year, the other being Tänak's first place at the Acropolis Rally in Greece in June.
WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!!
— FIA World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) November 29, 2025
Sébastien Ogier & Vincent Landais claim the 2025 title on the last stage of the season! #WRC | #RallySaudiArabia pic.twitter.com/VVo8ZqWo7j
Tänak got off to a good start in Saudi Arabia, hosting its first ever full WRC event, finishing fifth in the pre-race shakedown run and one place higher after four stages of the race proper.
However, it was clear by the start of Saturday's events that 11th place was the highest Tänak, and his teammate and compatriot co-driver Martin Järveoja, could hope for. Tire blowouts on stages 13 and 14 ended that hope.
On the last day, he had to run first on the road and clear gravel.
"Today was not the best day to open the road," he said in a Hyundai press release. "It has been a tough round. We still tried to keep a good rhythm."
"These cars are among the best in the sport. They are great to drive and great to watch from outside," he said. "I tried to enjoy the day. I really did," he added.
"We will see what the future brings," he continued. "I won't turn my back on rally. It has given me a lot. I'm very grateful."
Tänak told rally portal DirtFish he had been considering a sabbatical from the WRC as early as summer, and ahead of his home race in Estonia in July, where he finished third.
He even took a brief championship lead after Estonia, only to lose that one race later in Finland, with a further turning point coming in September in Chile, when engine failure forced Tänak to retire while in the lead.
The Estonian made the official announcement after Rally Japan three weeks ago. Up to then, he had been in with a mathematical, if in reality very slim, chance of a second world title, if something dramatic had happened with Ogier, Evans and their Toyota teammate Kalle Rovanperä in the meantime.
"Obviously I guess my problem is that I really struggle to just go out for the rallies. I don't get any satisfaction if I'm not there competing for the win and therefore it seemed difficult [to continue]," Tänak told DirtFish.
Tänak, 38, from Saaremaa, won his sole WRC title in 2019 with Toyota, and has won 22 races across his career, which started in 2009. His first podium finish came in Sardinia in 2012 with the first win following at the same venue, in 2017.
The 2026 WRC season starts in late January, as per tradition in Monte Carlo.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Siim Boikov
