Ott Tänak
Ott Tänak won the 2019 World Rally Championship with Toyota, becoming the first and so far only Estonian driver to win the title, after an upbringing that included learning car control on the country's frozen lakes and rally stages long before he was legally old enough to drive on the road.
Ott Tänak grew up in Estonia's strong grassroots rallying culture, learning car control on frozen lakes as a child before progressing through junior categories into the World Rally Championship.
After building his career with Ford, Tänak moved to Toyota and won the 2019 World Rally Championship — the first and so far only title won by an Estonian driver, a landmark result for the country's rallying scene.
He has since driven for Hyundai, continuing to compete at the front of the championship field, known for a notably calm and understated public manner that contrasts with the committed, aggressive driving that won him the title.
4 Things You Might Not Know
Tänak's 2019 title win with Toyota remains the only World Rally Championship won by an Estonian driver, a significant milestone for a country with a strong grassroots rallying culture but no previous world champion.
Like many drivers from the Baltic and Nordic rallying tradition, Tänak developed early car-handling skills driving on frozen lakes as a child, well before reaching the legal driving age — a common but still striking origin story for the region's top rally talent.
Tänak's career has spanned spells with Ford, Toyota (where he won his title), and Hyundai, reflecting both his consistent competitiveness and the WRC's relatively small number of works teams at any given time.
Commentators and fellow drivers frequently note the contrast between Tänak's quiet, measured manner off the stage and his genuinely aggressive, committed driving once competing — a pairing not uncommon among top Nordic and Baltic rally drivers specifically.