Drivers / co-drivers: Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia (Volkswagen Motorsport), Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai Motorsport♔) and Andreas Mikkelsen and Ola Floene (Volkswagenဣ Motorsport).

Team principal: Jost Capito (Volkswagen Motorsport).

Press conference

Q:
Sebastien, what an incr𝐆edible battle through three days of competition! Is this the hardest fight for 𝓀the win you have ever had?

Sebastien Ogier:
It feels great of course. It's been a very, very exciting weekend. I knew I had to take soဣme risks to be able to win so I pushed hard all the wa🐬y.

Q:
The f🍎inal stage is where we saw the rally won. What were y🍎our thoughts going into that?

Sebastien Ogier:
I've had some similar situations before, but today i𒐪t was somehow easier to mana💜ge because I knew we had to go flat out. I drove as fast as I could, and of course I understand the frustration for Andreas but I'm sure his victory will come soon.

Q:
Did you enjoy this year's rally?

Sebastien Ogier:
It was a very exciting weekend, I'm sure for everyone. When we need to push like ไthis we all love to drive. It's great for the show, it's great for the fans but I hope the next one is not like this!

Q:
Julien, congratulations - a tough challenge and aꩲ huge battle, how would you sum up the weekend?

Julien Ingrassia:
Of course it's the same thing from a co driver's perspective, no mistakes are allowed. But I had time to enjo꧅y all the stages here in Rally Sweden.

Q:
Thierry, you leave Sweden with second position - but going int⛦o the final stage no one was sure which position any of you would walk away with. Happy with the result?

Thierry Neuville:
It's okay, it's a good feeling for me. We were very strong and t🦹hey (Volkswagen) are hard to beat. I tried to avoid mistakes and I managed to only lose like 15 seconds on those mistakes the whole weekend.

Q:
At one point Nico🧸las, your co-driver, had to tell you to 'calm down a bit' - did you listen to him?

Thierry Neuville:
The conditions were horrible. I pushed very hard and Nicolas asked me to slow d🌄own not to make any mistakes.

Q:
We🅰 return to Mexico now where you picked up a podium last year - the same aim ღagain this year?

Thierry Neuville:
🐎For us it's a special event. It was our first podium in WRC so we're really l🧔ooking forward to it.

Q:
Nicolas, what was the 💯atmosphere like in the car? Are you happy with second?

Nicolas Gilsoul:
I'm very happy from the beginn🐻ing to the end. We were lucky wi𒐪th our tyre plan, so we made some good decisions.

Q:
Andreas, you were leading going into the final stage but a mistake dropped you down to third. You gave it everything 𒉰you had - what are your feelings now?

Andreas Mikkelsen:
I look at this weekend as a positive one. We had a gap but made a mistake. We tried to fight hard, Thierry and S?bastien were really fast. Coming into the🙈 day was really interesting. We decided to go maximum on the ♏last stage, we knew we had to do it to be able to win.

Q:
Talk us through what went wronওg in the last stage.

Andreas Mikkelsen:
In a left hand corner I got in a little too fast and the rear caught the corner and made us spin. Luckily there were spectators there to♎ help us but of course I feel unlucky not being able to win.

Q:
There are huge positives to take away from this weekend, can you turn the disappointment of the final stage into something that can hel🎶p you in the future?

Andreas Mikkelsen:
I think we learn a lot this weekend🎃 and hopefully we can take this with us into Mexico.

Q:
How did you find this weekeಞnd, how is it from your view?

Ola Floene:
I love the ꦯsport, but in a situation li♑ke this I hate it. But I still love it back here!

Q:
So many people were watching the battle this weekend. To ꦏhave the interest back for the WRC, that's amazing, isn't it?

Ola Floene:
It's good for the sport and in this r🥂ally there's been so much interest for the sport a🌳nd this event.

Q:
Jo🅰st, it's ꦫbeen an amazing fight, a showcase for the WRC.

Jost Capito:
It was an incredible showcase for the sport. A re🍷ally fantastic rally and iꦡnteresting for everybody. I think this can make for a great season.

Q:
What have you thought of Andreas' performance this🌠 weekend?

Jost Capito:
Andreas' performance was outstanding and to be in a lead like this was really impressive. If you end up in a snow bank 𝓰you end up in a snow bank; sometimes you just have bad luck.

Q:
Seb said he was going to h🗹unt the other guys down, and he did. What's your thought on our World Champion?

Jost Capito:
In the final stage it all comes down to mind games. They have shown they are really th💜e right World Champio🎃ns.