Citroën Racing boss Yves Matton has reserved judgement on Kris Meeke’s unlucky run at Neste Oil Rally Finland last weekend and will instead assess his performance over a run of three rallies.
Meeke was in a strong third place when he crashed out during Saturday’s leg, racking up his third incident in as many rallies at a time when he is under pressure to prove he deserves a place in the team next year.
But Matton denied this latest crash was the end of the line for the Ulsterman who, like his team-mate Mads Østberg, will be out of contract at the end of this season.
"We have a new plan that we decided before Finland and that’s to leave the drivers to come up with their own strategies for that event and the ones following in Germany and Australia," Matton told wrc.com.
"It’s a different way of thinking. Before the rallies they let me know what they want to do and after I analyse whether they were able to follow that strategy or not. I will stick to this plan and will make my conclusions after Australia."
Matton insisted that he had not yet made any decisions about next year’s driver line-up. "For the moment I have no idea. I’m not ready to take any decisions at the moment. We have some time and I’m under no pressure," he said.