Motorsport: Hyundai set to retain driver line-up in 2017

Thierry Neuville during the Shakedown of the WRC Italy. Photo / Getty Images

Hyundai is set to retain its current driver line-up next season despite three of their four drivers off-contract at the season's end.

Kiwi Hayden Paddon, who got his maiden World Rally Championship victory in Rally Argentina in April, is already under contract but Belgian Thierry Neuville, Spain's Dani Sordo and Dutch test driver Kevin Abbring are yet to re-commit to the team next season.

"Our line-up is not too bad, this has been proven some times," Hyundai team principal Michel Nandan told Autosport magazine.

"We still have to discuss a little bit, but we are quite confident to keep our drivers. They are fast and the combination is good."

Meanwhile Nandan says it is unlikely the team would be running four cars - as it did on the last two rounds of the world championship - next season.

"The difference between two and three cars is not so big; four cars is the biggest difference because of the spare parts you need as well," he says.

"When we started in 2014 we put three cars on some events, then last year, when you have a car which has been running for one year, you have a pool of parts and you can run three cars.

"But to put four cars, really it's a big amount for next season."