Ott Tänak: 'I'm too competitive to settle for second place'

2019 WRC world champion Ott Tänak has opened up about the difficulty of stepping away from the wheel, admitting that withdrawal symptoms from competitive driving have been tough to handle. The Estonian rally legend says his competitive nature makes it impossible for him to be satisfied with anything less than victory.

Estonian rally driver Ott Tänak, the 2019 World Rally Championship world champion, has candidly admitted that replacing the feeling of being behind the wheel at full competitive speed is nearly impossible — and that the withdrawal symptoms have been considerable.

«I'm such a competitive person that I simply cannot drive for second place,» Tänak said, reflecting on what keeps him pushing at the highest level of motorsport. The statement captures the all-or-nothing mentality that has defined his career, including his historic WRC title win in 2019 — Estonia's first-ever world rally championship.

Tänak's remarks shed light on the psychological demands that elite motorsport places on its competitors. For drivers at his level, stepping back even momentarily from the cockpit creates a sense of restlessness that is difficult to shake. The Estonian has described the absence of competitive driving as genuinely challenging on a personal level, likening it to withdrawal from something deeply ingrained.

The rally ace's career has been marked by relentless determination and a refusal to accept mediocrity. His candid admission about the difficulty of being away from racing underlines just how central competitive driving is to his identity — not merely as a profession, but as a fundamental part of who he is.