New Citroen World Rally Team signing Esapekka Lappi says he needs “more experience on more events” before he can realistically try to win a first World Rally Championship title.
2019 sees Lappi move from the Toyota GAZOO Racing World Rally Team to the French manufacturer where he partners six time WRC champion Sébastien Ogier, but the young Finn doesn’t think he can win the championship just yet.
Talking at the 2019 Autosport International show, Lappi said: “It’s been easy to settle in so far. I don’t believe we can win title this year because I need more experience on some of the rallies where we haven’t yet got the experience.”
“I want this year to be better than 2018 which means finishing in the top four overall. I’d like to be higher than last year obviously, but a lot of drivers want to be there as well! I want to improve.”
Lappi testing for his new team. Photo Credit: Aurelien Vialatte / Red Bull Content Pool
Lappi also praised his new teammate ahead of the opening round of the season and added: “It’s easy to work with Seb and we are very open to each other. We’ve discussed what we can do with the car and what are the good and bad things. He is a really nice guy. I do believe we’ll work well together.”
“This year I will try and learn the big picture lets say and try and learn from Seb. We want to see how he does things like for example how he behaves through a rally weekend. He is the champion for a reason!”
Lappi’s first appearance in the WRC for Citroen will be on Rallye Monte Carlo which takes place next weekend between January 25-28.
