Thierry Neuville criticizes Hankook: "These tires are not at World Championship level"

(Motorsport-Total.com) - Thierry Neuville has expressed strong criticism of WRC standard supplier Hankook following numerous tire failures at the Acropolis Rally in Greece. After a total of four tire failures in the first ten special stages of the seventh round of the 2025 World Rally Championship (WRC), the Hyundai star was visibly frustrated and questioned the suitability of the Korean tire for the premier class of rallying.

Neuville had already suffered a puncture on two consecutive special stages on Friday, dropping him to eighth place. The series of mishaps continued on Saturday : A slow puncture on the right rear tire on the eighth special stage cost valuable time, and shortly thereafter, Neuville damaged his left rear tire on the following special stage. Nevertheless, the Belgian overtook Kalle Rovanperä and moved into seventh place overall.

Neuville furious: "This has nothing to do with motorsport"

At the end of the ninth special stage, Neuville was clear: "The tires aren't up to par. When you see why we're getting punctures, it's just crazy," he ranted at the finish. "You can't compete in rallying at this level with a product like that. We're constantly being penalized for nothing. It's all about luck. This has nothing to do with real competition."

At the service park, Neuville added: "Yesterday, a tire was flat for a few seconds, then it bounced back and held pressure overnight. This is a manufacturing or reliability issue. You can't race a World Championship like this."

Another incident on Saturday caused further anger for the reigning world champion: "The damage was so small that you couldn't even see the hole. I've never experienced anything like this before. I've had more punctures now than all of last year. Hankook still has a lot of work to do."

Acropolis Rally presents Hankook with tough test

In 2025, Hankook became the official tire supplier to the WRC for the first time , succeeding Pirelli. While the tires performed largely reliably in previous rallies, the return of the Acropolis Rally to the hot June weather and the particularly rough gravel roads is now revealing weaknesses – especially under high stress and temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius.

In a statement, Hankook spokesman Steven Cho expressed his understanding: "We share Neuville's frustration. He certainly had more problems than others," Cho told the English-language edition of Motorsport.com , a sister publication of Motorsport-Total.com on the Motorsport Network. "We knew Greece would be the biggest challenge of the year, and it was even tougher than expected."

Cho defended Hankook's current course, but also emphasized the need for improvement: "In our first year, we wanted to be conservative and focus on robustness. So far, this has been largely successful. But of course, there is always room for improvement, and we are working intensively with the teams and the FIA ​​on further developments."

Cho is particularly critical of so-called delaminations, i.e. the detachment of tire parts: "We have to get this combination of extreme heat and abrasive substrate under control."

Outlook: New tires in development

According to Hankook, several updates are already in the works, but the right timing for their introduction must be found. The goal is not to stand still – and to return stronger by 2026 at the latest. "We are thoroughly analyzing the findings from Greece in order to return next year with a better product," Cho said.