Latvala and his new job: “I won’t be there to give orders” to the pilots

Jari-Matti Latvala swaps his helmet for the team boss shirt. The Finn has in fact replaced his compatriot Tommi Mäkinen à ce poste au sein de la formation Toyota in the World Rally Championship (WRC) for the 2021 season.

The man with 209 WRC starts spoke about his state of mind about changing roles this winter. “My WRC journey went from driver to Team Principal. At this level, you can't go back and be a World Cup driver again.", he sweeps away.

The first winner of a rally with the Yaris WRC (in Sweden in 2017) will have to adopt a new working method. “It’s a radical change to become Team Principal. When I was a pilot, I only thought about myself. The team had built the car and I had to be focused on achieving the best possible result.

From now on, I have to think from a much more unifying point of view. I will have to make sure everyone gets along and goes in the same direction. We want to constantly improve the car and therefore we also want to have an ever more efficient team. The base is already fantastic. »

The three-time world vice-champion wants to be a human leader, without being too present either. « Each individual is important in the team. If a person feels good, they will then be motivated and will give 100% to their work. That's what I'm looking for. I plan to speak with each employee to ask them how they are feeling.

If the pilots come to see me, I will provide them with my analyses. But I won't be there to give them orders. I would be happy to share my experience if the pilots wish. It is the Sports Director, Kaj Lindström, who will interact the most with the drivers.

I expect that the respect we have maintained between Seb (Ogier) and Elfyn (Evans) when we were pilots, continues. Rallying is a fight against the clock and not man to man, this allows us to preserve that respect.

A true enthusiast of the history of rallying, Jari-Matti Latvala maintains a garage with several old Toyotas (Celica, Corolla, in particular). And it's not about to stop. “I still love driving and I want to preserve Toyota’s heritage in the world of rallying. This is the reason why I will be doing some historic rallies and events in Europe and in Finland, when weather permits. »

Winners of Kerava Ralli and most importantly, we had a lot of fun today with Juho in the Toyota Celica! #Winners #SaturdayFunDay #TOYOTA #LatvalaMotorsport pic.twitter.com/PkdYLjesf5

— Jari-Matti Latvala (@JariMattiWRC) October 24, 2020