A sign in the yard of the farm prohibits photography, but luckily the ban only applies to the rally car service area. In the December morning twilight, a happy-looking new world champion also walks towards the camera.
– It’s snowing here, Thierry Neuville sighs as he steps towards his “office”.
The 36-year-old Belgian feels the euphoria of winning the first world championship of his career, and later in the interview, Neuville admits that the image is right.
The first test day as the reigning world champion is special for him.
– The feeling is great. A certain pressure is now gone. We finally achieved our last goal in our career, i.e. the championship. This is a great award, not only for the season that ended, but for all the previous ones. For all the sacrifices in my 15-year career, this is the best reward you can get.
A few days ago, Neuville stopped by to receive his world championship trophy at the FIA award gala in Rwanda, and now he is plowing through the snow on a gravel road in central Finland – just in time for it to freeze.
The drivers’ world championship was the first not only for Neuville but also for the Hyundai team. The Korean manufacturer’s withdrawal from the World Series, at least as a factory team, after next season has been the subject of speculation for a long time.
Over the course of the fall, even stronger signs have been seen in that direction.
In September, Neuville’s new, only one-year extension contract with the team was published. After that, it was also announced that Hyundai would join the WEC track car series in the 2026 season.
Team manager Cyril Abiteboul in turn was appointed as the leader of the WEC project. Next season, Abiteboul will also continue on the WRC side, but hardly with the same focus as before.
The question of the continuation of Neuville’s rally career makes the Belgian driver’s happy expression turn serious.
– I don’t know how long it will last. I signed a two-year contract with an option for 2026 in case Hyundai pulls out. It is no secret that Hyundai’s continuation in the WRC class is very uncertain.
– It’s already a small miracle that we’re here testing for the 2025 season. However, we don’t know about the future. We hope there will be a sequel, but we don’t know.
Positive score change
Now for the first time, Neuville was able to try out how a Rally1 car feels according to next season’s rules without the hybrid unit that brought temporary extra power and with new tires, when the place of Pirelli, which has been the tire supplier of the World Series for a long time, is filled by Hankook.
– The car is clearly slower than before. Of course, there is not that much difference in all competitions during the season. Spectators hardly notice anything, but the driver does.
– No driver will say that they enjoy driving a slower car. We would always like faster. The tires are also new and they are very different, Neuville laughs.
However, he doesn’t want to reveal what that means in terms of tires.
The world champion sees the point calculation system, which will change again for next season, as a positive thing only.
The conditional points awarded based on Saturday’s results will be removed in the future. The new points system follows the traditional model of small filings, but in addition, points are also awarded to the five fastest on Sunday, so the maximum number of points in the competition will be 35 next season.
– I like the new system. As we saw this season, the interest of Sundays clearly grew from the perspective of drivers, fans and the media.
– However, I think the drivers who stopped on Friday or Saturday benefited too much from the Sunday points. This small reform is good.
Neuville admits that the ability to utilize the points system that caused a lot of confusion last season was one of the key factors in his world championship.
However, it is appropriate to remind that he would have collected enough points for the championship even with the old points calculation system used in previous years.
No longer the eternal runner-up
In addition to the increased reliability of the car, the biggest factor was found between the steering wheel and the seat.
After five World Cup silvers and a success curve that showed signs of fading, Neuville was already labeled as the eternal runner-up who was unable to take advantage of his own opportunities.
In the season that ended, however, the situation changed. Even the starting points were exceptional because the reigning world champion Kalle Rovanperä announced that he would take a partial sabbatical from the World Series.
– You have to remember that it was Kalle’s own decision. No one forced him to do it, Neuville dodges the question about the effect of Rovanperä’s intervention in the World Cup battle.
He reminds that he also faced an eight-time world champion who went on the championship hunt for the rest of the season Sebastien Ogier.
– He was now the pursuer and had to attack. Then there will be mistakes. I myself have been in that situation many times. We had the advantage and stayed calm.
– We didn’t take pressure, we just did our job. It worked. A certain kind of burden fell off my shoulders and I feel lighter now, Neuville describes and rushes to continue his test work.
The twilight has changed to darkness, when the shower of sparks caused by the studs and the gravel coming out from under the ice escorts the world champion back to the central Finnish snowbank.