They beat their Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT team-mates Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin to the crown by four points after another epic WRC season, as Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe, the outgoing world champions, celebrated their first victory of the season for Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team following a dramatic title showdown in the Middle East.

Ogier draws level with Sébastien Loeb on nine titles with Landais claiming his first Co-Drivers’ crown. Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT clinched the FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers* on last month’s Central European Rally.

How the FIA WRC title battled unfolded in Saudi Arabia
Ogier started the three-stage final day just one position ahead of Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT team-mate Elfyn Evans and holding a provisional two-point advantage. But a decisive charge on the penultimate Asfan stage – where he climbed from sixth to third overall – put the title firmly in his grasp.

A measured run through the Wolf Power Stage then sealed the title deal for Ogier and co-driver Landais, who joined forces with Ogier in late 2022.

Ogier’s surge on Asfan came as overnight leader Mārtiņš Sesks and Kalle Rovanperä both stopped to change wheels, while Takamoto Katsuta rolled his GR Yaris Rally1.

Evans also climbed the order, but the gap between their final positions meant the Welshman was forced to settle for being championship runner-up for a fifth time, falling short by four points in one of the closest finishes in recent memory.

Competing on a part-time basis, Ogier and Landais’ 2025 campaign has been remarkable. Despite missing three rallies, they claimed wins on more than half their starts and finished the year with more stage victories than any other pairing.

“What a season, that's for sure,” 41-year-old Ogier said. “What a fight with Elfyn and Scott, honestly. There is only a great champion when you have a great opponent, and they've been super strong, pushing us to the limit up to the very last stage of the year. Well done to those guys, anyway, and to the whole Toyota Gazoo Racing team. It’s been such a successful season. Proud and very happy to be part of this family.”

Neuville wrapped up the rally victory – his first of the season – by 54.7sec after moving past Sesks on Saturday’s opener. Persistent damper trouble made the closing kilometres tense, but the Belgian kept his i20 N Rally1 clear of the chaos behind him. Adrien Fourmaux completed a Hyundai 1-2, though the Frenchman was left to rue what could have been a maiden WRC win after a one-minute time penalty for an early check-in dropped him out of the lead on Friday evening.

“It has been a super tough season, but to finish with an unexpected victory is obviously a great feeling,” Neuville said. “Next season arrives fast. There's a lot of work left, so we have a lot of work in front of us over the next weeks to be better prepared for next year. It's a tough challenge, but we will try to keep fighting. Hopefully we get all the support we need for a better year next year.”

Sami Pajari recovered strongly from his Friday wheel change to finish fourth, 8.2sec ahead of Katsuta’s battered Toyota, as Evans and Rovanperä placed sixth and seventh in their similar GR Yaris Rally1 cars.

M-Sport Ford sensation Sesks remained one of the standout stories of the rally. He and co-driver Renars Francis won five stages and led heading into the final day before their double puncture on Asfan cost almost eight minutes. They retired before the final stage, promoting Puma Rally1 team-mates Grégoire Munster and Josh McErlean to eighth and ninth while Oliver Solberg completed the top 10.

There were wins in FIA WRC2 and FIA WRC3 for Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) and Matteo Fontana/Alessandro Arnaboldi (Ford Fiesta Rally3) respectively.

Nikolai Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) secured the FIA WRC Challenger title* by taking the category victory, while first place in the FIA WRC Masters’ Cup went to Nasser Khalifa Al-Attiyah/Ziad Chehab (Ford Fiesta Rally2). Matteo Fontana/Alessandro Arnaboldi took the FIA WRC3 honours in their Ford Fiesta Rally3. Click HERE for all results.

Tashkent next for Ogier, Landais and Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Ogier, Landais and Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT will be presented with their FIA World Rally Championship-winning trophies at the FIA Awards ceremony in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on 12 December. The FIA Awards will be broadcast across the FIA’s YouTube and social media platforms from 13:00 EST / 18:00 GMT / 19:00 CET.

Meanwhile, the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship season will be contested over 14 rounds with Rallye Monte-Carlo hosting the opening event from 22-25 January 22-25.

*Subject to final confirmation