Speaking to Rally Blog DirtFish Tänak said: "I definitely tried very hard from my side to drive them forward."

"Beginning of the year was still quite hopeful. Then somehow we lost the track and there was not much happening. But yeah, I really hope that they get back on the track and back where they belong."

"I hope he [Malcolm Wilson] finds somebody a bit more consistent than I've been," Tänak added. "Because I've been quite a tough product in the beginning I guess."

"But I believe they'll hopefully have some other guys coming," he added.

Tänak joined M-Sport last December and was serious about a bid for his and co-driver Martin Järveoja's second WRC title, even with a team substantially less well-funded than the works-backed Toyota and Hyundai teams.

Tänak won two races in 2023 – early on in the season, in Sweden and again in Chile in early October, and was also second in Croatia in April and third at the inaugural Central European Rally in late October.

However, the season was still up and down as Tänak himself implied, with low points including finishing way down the field at Rally Sardinia and having to pull out of Rally Finland in August.

M-Sport Ford team chief Richard Millener wished Tänak and co-driver Martin Järveoja success in the future.

It is of course a shame that the end of Rally Japan marks the departure of Ott and Martin, but myself and the team would like to thank them for their never-give-up attitude, and the delivery of two great victories in Sweden and Chile," Millener said.

Tänak and co-driver Martin Järveoja finished fourth in the 2023 season, a championship won by Kalle Rovanperä (Finland, Toyota) for the second consecutive time.

Tänak and Järveoja will return to Hyundai, with whom they raced for three seasons 2020-2022, next year.

The 2024 season starts as per tradition with the Monte Carlo rally in late January.

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