Hyundai Motorsport has announced its driver lineup for the 2026 World Rally Championship (WRC) season, with less than two months remaining until its commencement.
In 2025, the Korean manufacturer fielded three full-time drivers: Ott Tänak, Thierry Neuville, and Adrien Fourmaux, all of whom competed in each of the 14 rallies. Of these, Neuville and Fourmaux will retain their full-time spots, but Tänak will not, having decided to step away from WRC.
The Estonian's decision prompted Cyril Abiteboul and his team to seek an alternative for their third car. They opted for a shared drive among three drivers: veteran Dani Sordo, Esapekka Lappi, and two-time European Rally Champion from New Zealand, Hayden Paddon.
All three have previously driven for Hyundai in WRC, and the 2026 season will mark their return to the Korean squad. Sordo and Lappi last competed for Hyundai in 2024, sharing the third car with Andreas Mikkelsen, while Paddon was a full-time Hyundai driver between 2014 and 2018, securing a victory in Argentina in 2016. Paddon will have the honor of kicking off the season in Monte Carlo at the end of January, followed by Lappi starting in Sweden in mid-February. Sordo's first appearance will be in the Canary Islands at the end of April.