Hyundai shares tweaked livery for 2026 FIA WRC season with addition of black, as M-Sport Ford sports Irish flag colours in their scheme.
Following a challenging 2025 season, Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team returns to the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) with a clear objective: to fight for all three championship titles. 2026 marks Hyundai Motorsport’s 13th season in the championship, and the team is approaching the year with a refreshed structure and a focused mindset as the Korean manufacturer targets the top step. To maximise its title contention, the team will field three Hyundai i20 N Rally1 cars across the season, with the third entry rotating between crews specifically selected for their surface expertise and proven experience.
Stalwarts Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe will once again be joined by Adrien Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria as the team’s two permanent crews. The third Hyundai i20 N Rally1 will be shared by three former Hyundai drivers: Dani Sordo and Cándido Carrera, Esapekka Lappi and Enni Mälkönen, and Hayden Paddon and John Kennard. Neuville and Wydaeghe enter their sixth season as a pairing, with the Belgian driver going into his 13th with Hyundai Motorsport. After a challenging 2025 campaign that concluded with a victory at Rally Saudi Arabia, the crew are looking to carry this momentum into the opening round at Rallye Monte-Carlo.
Fourmaux and Coria enter their second season with Hyundai Motorsport in 2026 following a strong debut year. The Frenchmen secured four podium finishes in 2025 and will target their first WRC victory with the team this season, building on the progress shown last year. Across a 19-season WRC career, Sordo has delivered two victories and 20 podium finishes for Hyundai Motorsport. He will take to the stages alongside co-driver Carrera, with whom he previously competed for four WRC seasons before the duo claimed the Portuguese Rally Championship title together in 2025. Their rough gravel skillset will support Hyundai’s charge for podiums in the gravel stint of the season.
Rally Sweden 2024 victor Lappi returns to WRC competition in 2026 alongside co-driver Mälkönen. The pairing enjoyed a successful campaign in the Finnish Rally Championship in 2025, securing five wins on the way to the title. Lappi brings extensive experience to the team, with Finnish, European and WRC2 titles to his name, as well as multiple seasons competing in the WRC. Mälkönen joins him as the sole female co-driver in the Rally1 category, marking a milestone for female participation in rallying for competitors and fans alike.
Paddon and Kennard return to the topflight rally championship for the first time since 2017, following several seasons competing across international rally championships as part of the Hyundai family. The pairing claimed European Rally Championship titles in 2023 and 2024 and will begin their programme at Rallye Monte-Carlo, bringing extensive experience back to the team. Another key change ahead of the season is the relocation of Hyundai Motorsport’s test base from Finland to the south of France, giving the team a greater variety of surfaces to test on throughout the year. The move reflects a focus on the second half of the calendar, where demanding gravel events feature prominently, and was taken with driver input to focus on improvements at events such as Acropolis Rally and Rally Saudi Arabia.
The Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car will debut a brand-new livery for 2026, with its unique design paying tribute to Hyundai’s racing heritage around the world. The iconic Performance Blue and Active Red return alongside design features honouring Nürburgring, the home of Hyundai N, and Namyang, the location of Hyundai Motor Group’s R&D Centre and Design Centre. A series of special liveries will also feature at selected WRC events during the season.
Hyundai Motorsport President and Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul said: “We return this season with more determination and fight than ever before. Last year was a challenge, but we learnt a lot about our weaknesses and what we need to work on to up our game even more in 2026. Once again, our target is to finish the year with all three championship titles – something we know we are in a better position to achieve thanks to the maturity of the Evo car. The very focused improvements we have brought to it after a relentless and meticulous testing program, and the enhancement to our leadership team, with dedicated experienced staff are a statement of the intents of Hyundai in motorsport.
“From a tactical perspective, we are returning to the setup that was successful in 2024, through a rotational third car paired with the solid performances we know we will see from Thierry and Adrien. With the return of Hayden, Dani and Esapekka, we are not only welcoming back skillsets and experience, but also a reinvigorated, positive team mindset that we have seen can be crucial in success through the hard times that any WRC season will throw at you! The competition will be tough from Toyota once again, but I truly believe we have what it takes to reach our targets.”
Hyundai Motorsport WRC Sporting Director Andrew Wheatley said: “This year’s target is clear: we need to put ourselves in a position to be fighting for all three championships at the end of the year. We have a good opportunity to be consistently focused on the performance, because we know we have the right experience in the team. We have improved our knowledge of the car following the work that’s been done over the winter period, and we know where our strengths and weaknesses lie so we can now plan around those to put us in the best possible position. There’s been an incredible amount of work done by the design, engineering, development and testing teams – we will have done 16 days of testing from the end of Rally Saudi Arabia to the start of Rallye Monte-Carlo, which is a significant amount and something that will help us dramatically. This is a team of people that know how to win, and now it’s just a question of ensuring that we have that consistent performance across the season.”
Thierry Neuville said: “I have continued with Hyundai for many years now – we have always collaborated well, and have had some exciting seasons fighting for and winning championships together. It’s a very familiar setting for me now, and for so many drivers to be coming back to the team is exciting. We have a strong driver line-up now with EP, Dani and Hayden sharing the third car. I’m most looking forward to the last round of the year – when we’re fighting for the championship title.”
Adrien Fourmaux said: “I’m looking forward to staying with Hyundai Motorsport in 2026, and it would mean a lot to claim my first victory with them this season. Looking back at my path from my medicine training to becoming a professional rally driver, to win with Hyundai would be fantastic. The goal this year is to fight for the championship, and to do that we need to score the maximum number of points at every event. The fight will be tight, so we need keep developing the car and work closely as a team to start getting those results from the start of the year. I’m pleased to see that our teammates sharing the third car are also motivated to score as many points as possible, as well as support Thierry and myself in our efforts. We’ll work well together as a team, and I can’t wait to get started in Monte Carlo.”
Dani Sordo said: “Coming back to the team this year feels like I’m back home again. I was driving a Hyundai in Portugal, so part of me feels like I never left, but it’s good to be back in the top category again. My time in the Portuguese Rally Championship was nice, and definitely made me a better driver. We have a lot of responsibility being in the third car. It’s important that we bring home as many points as possible for Hyundai’s championship fight, and we will be pushing in every aspect to finish as high in the standings as possible at every event we enter. I’ll use my WRC experience to do this, and it won’t be easy, but we know we have what it takes. I’m excited to get going and can’t wait to see what 2026 has in store.”
Esapekka Lappi said: “My return back to the WRC was unexpected, but it’s a positive surprise. I started to feel the competitiveness inside me again, so I knew I wanted to do it, and it’s really good to be back. Before Christmas, I did some development tests with the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car, but I think the Finnish Rally Championship helped me massively. I don’t think this comeback would have been possible without it – it’s helped me keep the rhythm of driving. We will work with the team event-by-event to determine what our goals are in the third car. We’re there to support them as much as possible alongside Thierry and Adrien, and bring home as many points as possible. We need to be fully committed and be well prepared for each event, but we also need to enjoy them all because without enjoyment, the results don’t come.”
Hayden Paddon said: “I didn’t expect to be returning to the top WRC category. I’m nervous about the prospect but obviously very excited – this is the perfect example of never giving up. Since I was last in the WRC, I’ve done a lot of different driving across many championships so I think we’ve developed a lot as a crew, particularly when it comes to tarmac. The European Rally Championship exposed us to a lot more tarmac rallying recently, so I’m for sure a different driver to who I was eight years ago. We’re jumping straight in the deep end with a new car and environment, so it’s a challenge. We’re primarily here to help the team as much as possible when it comes to car development and scoring invaluable points on event. After getting some more time in the seat in Monte Carlo, we want to step it up to be more competitive later in the year.”
Video: https://x.com/HMSGOfficial/status/2011725355183456604?s=20
https://x.com/HMSGOfficial/status/2011771511435325606?s=20
M-Sport –
Video: https://x.com/MSportLtd/status/2011364400763191629?s=20
WRC inks fresh deal with Rally Islas Canarias: https://www.wrc.com/en/news/rally-islas-canarias-secures-multi-year-wrc-future-through-2029
[The story is as per press release]
