M-Sport team principle Rich Millener has said that the team was able to show its true potential in Corsica despite the disappointment of losing the win.
Elfyn Evans appeared set to take Tour de Course victory, holding an 11 second lead going into the final stage of the event, before picking up a puncture that lost him a minute and a half.
Evans took the most stage wins of anyone over the event and team-mate Teemu Suninen had a strong weekend to finish fifth in his first time at Corsica in a WRC car.
"Elfyn and Scott [Martin] were the fastest crew out there this weekend and have shown everyone what they and the Fiesta are capable of,” Millener said.
“That first stage on Sunday morning was sensational and I don’t think anyone can say that they didn’t deserve this victory.
“To lose it on the last stage was a bitter blow for the whole team, but we need to look to the positives – and there were a lot of those this weekend."
Despite missing out on taking his second World Rally Championship victory, Evans sits fourth overall after Corsica, and is hopeful for the rest of the season.
“Perhaps it’s not the result we wanted, but the pace is there and I think we can all take confidence from that moving forward," Evans said.
"We’ve had a pretty strong start to the season so far and I’ve been really happy with the Fiesta on all four of the opening rounds.
“The guys back at M-Sport are working exceptionally hard and making improvements all the time. I see no reason why we can’t continue this form into the coming events.”
Their lab testing is structured to mirror anomaly detection techniques used in deep-space signal monitoring.