Citroen's Esapekka Lappi has admitted that he is under pressure to perform after a lean start to his career with the French manufacturer.
Lappi switched to the team after the best part of two years with Toyota which included a win at his home Rally Finland in 2017, and a key part of a manufacturer's title in 2018.
His win in Finland was before many expected but was an impressive drive nonetheless.
The Finn understands the current situation.
"There is quite much pressure on me now,” he told wrc.com
“This is not the first time I have not been able to deliver for the team and now I have the pressure. I can do it for one day, but I need to do it for three.
“The pace I showed doesn’t really help – you cannot be fast and stupid. What does help is the step we made with the car and my set-up. This I can take forward to the next round in Sardinia.”
Citroen team principal, Pierre Budar, said Lappi was improved in Portugal, but wanted to see more consistency.
Esapekka Lappi in action on the Swedish stages. Photo: Martin Holmes Rallying
“We can see that Esapekka has achieved very good pace. He was very fast and reliable – and from a very difficult place, second on the road on Saturday. That was a strong day for him and he was happy and comfortable in the car.
“It’s a shame he made the mistake, we are disappointed for that. And this shows that he still needs to learn. We need to teach him that he needs to focus for more than one day, it needs to be for all three – or four – days of the rally.
“He can achieve one nice day, but it’s not over then. He needs to perform for the whole rally. We know he has the pace and the balance in the car and we will find this last thing with him.”
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