Stewards issue huge time penalty after f1 driver HITs…read more
World Rally Championship (WRC) leader Ott Tänak has suffered a major setback in his quest for the 2025 title following a serious incident at Rally Finland that led to a severe penalty. The Estonian driver has been handed a five-minute time penalty and a suspended deduction of 35 championship points after an accident involving a rally scrutineer during Friday’s seventh stage of the event.
The dramatic incident unfolded after Tänak’s Hyundai left the road and struck a tree during SS7 (Saarikas 2), damaging the vehicle’s cooling system. In an effort to protect the engine from overheating, Tänak was eager to keep the car moving to maintain airflow. However, this urgency led to a breach of procedure at the stop control point.
According to a report released by the rally stewards, Tänak approached the tyre-checking zone where he was stopped by a scrutineer. As the official began scanning the tyres, another scrutineer was positioned in front of the car. Tänak, reportedly misunderstanding the situation and believing the checks were complete, accelerated before being signalled to depart. In doing so, he struck the scrutineer with the front-right bumper of the car, causing minor injuries including a bleeding scratch on the official’s left knee.
The stewards stated: “On Friday 1st August 2025, after the Stop Control of SS7 (Saarikas 2), car No. 8 arrived at tyre checking and stopped at the direction of a scrutineer. At that moment, the driver of car No. 8 waved his hands asking the scrutineer to move away. When the tyre scanning was almost complete and before receiving the signal to leave, the driver accelerated abruptly, striking a scrutineer and causing minor injuries.”
Tänak later gave his version of events, explaining that he used hand gestures to communicate because it was difficult to talk in the moment. He thought the checks were finished and began moving forward without realizing someone was in front of his car. The driver added that he would have stopped immediately if he had known he had hit someone. He also expressed remorse and offered a personal apology to the injured scrutineer.
Despite the injuries being minor, the consequences for Tänak are significant. The five-minute time penalty drops him from a competitive seventh position to 14th place overall. With only two stages remaining in Rally Finland, the demotion is a serious blow to his standing in the championship. Before the rally began, Tänak was leading Elfyn Evans by just a single point in the overall standings. However, with Evans currently running in fourth place in the rally, Tänak is now at risk of losing his lead in the championship.
The suspended 35-point penalty serves as a warning and could have further implications if Tänak is involved in any additional incidents. With five rallies still to go in the 2025 season, the title fight remains wide open—but Tänak’s path to a second WRC crown just became considerably harder.
