Latvala broke his suspension while sliding into a ditch in Monte Carlo, while a broken driveshaft put him out of contention in the first day of Rally Sweden.

"I have used my joker, I did a mistake in Monte-Carlo, and now the car has used its joker. Now we have none left and for me the season should start again at the next round in Mexico," said the Finn.

"Sweden was a hard weekend, driving the whole of Friday fighting with a broken car.

"I did what I could on the Power Stage but as first car on the road, there was no chance to get points. It's a shame, but that's the way it is."

Although he has retired at least once in the first two rallies of the season twice before, Latvala’s fourth season with VW is the first one to have started with two DNFs.

"The start of the season has been completely different to what I had in mind. When you have zero points after two events it's time to go rally-by-rally," he said.

"When it comes to challenging Seb [Ogier], all I can say is he's very strong. Of course I'll do my best, but I can't do anything else than go to the next event and try to score points."

Latvala has a dismal record in Mexico, having only made it to the top 10 once in his last four starts there.