M-Sport Ford WRT was expected to bring a significantly redesigned livery to the team’s Ford Puma Rally1, when the team announced it on Monday morning it showed the cars have no major differences compared to last season. There were small changes in which the lightning strikes were removed and more navy blue added, albeit bigger than those seen at Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT and Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT.
The 2019 champion Ott Tänak returns to the British outfit for the first time since 2017 where he started his WRC career back in 2012, he drove two seasons for Toyota and after winning the crown he went to Hyundai for three seasons in 2020.
Pierre-Louis Loubet will pilot the second car, the young Frenchman did seven rounds for the team last season after he switched from the Hyundai Motorsport backed 2C Competition at the end of 2021. This season he will be going for his first full-time season at the top level and he has teamed up with Nicholas Gilsoul as the new co-driver after Vincent Landais went to partner up with the eight-time champion Sébastien Ogier over at Toyota.
The energy drink giant Red Bull enters as a major partner, cars that are in factory colors will be driven by Tänak and Loubet in Rallye Monte-Carlo this weekend and the rest of the season. At the same time, a third driver may appear, and negotiations with Sébastien Loeb about a few starts also in 2023 are ongoing. In the season-opener Jourdan Serderidis will also drive with the same design on his car but without the Red Bull logos on the side.
