“The most important thing is to go to Monte-Carlo with a relaxed and open attitude. It depends so much on the conditions there and everything can change in a split second. It’s hard for me to say at the moment where we really are in terms of performance and it’s unlikely that Monte-Carlo will give us any definite answers either, as it is such a different rally to everywhere else.
his discipline, Makinen became the most successful rally driver of all time when he clinched four consecutive titles between 1996 and 1999 with Mitsubishi, though this feat has since been surpassed by Sebastien Loeb and matched by Sebastien Ogier, who moves from VW to Ford for 2017.
Calling upon his own Monte Carlo experiences, where he was a four-time winner during his career, Makinen admits he would simply be satisfied to see both cars reach the finish and – if possible – within a minute of the winner.
“I can pass on a little bit of my personal experience to our drivers from Monte-Carlo, but in the end it’s all down to them and the car now. Our target is to get good mileage from this rally, so I will be happy if we have both cars at the finish and arrive in the same minute as the leaders.
“That would be a fantastic way to continue our development, which is always an ongoing process. As we say in Toyota, we should keep continuous improvement: we just keep on making the car ever-better!”