Neuville was born in the German-speaking municipality of St. Vith and drove his first rally at age 19 in 2007, piloting an Opel Corsa in Luxembourg. In 2008 he won the Royal Automobil Club of Belgium Rally Contest, launching his competitive career. The following year he won the Citroën Rally Trophy Belux in a Citroën C2 R2 Max.
He made his Intercontinental Rally Challenge debut in 2009 at the Ypres Rally before making his WRC debut that same year at Rally Catalunya in a Citroën C2 R2, retiring from the event. In 2010 he contested the Junior WRC in a self-entered Citroën C2 S1600, winning one round but finishing seventh overall due to numerous retirements. He also competed in the 2010 IRC for Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg, recording a best result of third at the Ypres Rally.
In 2011, continuing with the Peugeot Bel-Lux team in the IRC, Neuville recorded two victories — the Tour de Corse and Rallye Sanremo — before the title went to Andreas Mikkelsen.
Citroën signed Neuville for selected 2012 WRC rounds in a DS3 WRC. Highlights included finishing fourth in France after leading the event for the first time. For 2013, he joined the Qatar World Rally Team driving a Ford Fiesta RS WRC. A remarkable run of podiums — including seconds in Italy, Finland, Germany, and Australia — propelled him to second in the championship, 114 points behind champion Sébastien Ogier, establishing him as an unexpected title contender.
Hyundai Motorsport signed Neuville on a multi-year deal in November 2013 as their lead driver for the manufacturer's WRC return in 2014. He delivered Hyundai's first ever WRC victory and his own maiden win at the 2014 Rallye Deutschland, with teammate Dani Sordo completing a historic one-two.
After finishing sixth in 2014 and 2015, Neuville became the WRC's perennial challenger, finishing runner-up in five consecutive seasons from 2016 to 2019. In 2016 he was a distant second to Ogier, but the arrival of new-generation World Rally Cars in 2017 brought him into close title battles. In 2017 and 2018 he narrowly lost to Ogier, while in 2019 he was pipped by Ott Tänak.
Notable victories and moments from the Hyundai era include:
2016 Rallye de France — Sardinia victory in tribute to late mentors Philippe Bugalski and Jean-Pierre Mondron
2018 Rally Sweden — his first win on snow, making him only the third non-Nordic driver to win the event
2018 Portugal and Sardinia back-to-back victories while leading the title race before a suspension failure in Turkey and off-road excursion in Wales cost him the title
2019 Tour de Corse and Rally Argentina victories that kept him in championship contention
In 2019, Neuville's results helped Hyundai claim their first manufacturers' title. Despite finishing fourth in the 2020 drivers' standings, his teammates' results secured Hyundai's second manufacturers' championship that year.
After three consecutive third-place seasons from 2021 to 2023, Neuville won his first WRC Drivers' Championship in 2024 alongside co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe, who had replaced longtime co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul. Neuville started the season strongly, winning the Monte Carlo Rally and the Acropolis Rally, maintaining consistency throughout the campaign. He secured the title before the final stage in Japan despite mechanical issues at the season finale, becoming the first Belgian world rally champion.
In total, Neuville has recorded 22 WRC victories, all with Hyundai, across asphalt, gravel, and snow surfaces. Initially regarded as primarily an asphalt specialist, he developed into a complete all-surface driver. His co-drivers over his WRC career include Nicolas Klinger, Nicolas Gilsoul (who shared most of his formative years and championship challenges), and current co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe.
Neuville made a brief foray into circuit racing in 2019, starting at the ADAC TCR Germany at the Nürburgring in a Hyundai i30 for Engstler Motorsport. He took pole position, led every lap, and won the first race before finishing sixth in race two after a reversed-grid start.
Although Neuville uses French pacenotes, he is a native German speaker from Belgium's German-speaking community. His younger brothers Yannick Neuville and Tom Heindrichs are also rally drivers. He became a father in 2019 with the birth of his daughter Camille, and later married his partner Déborah Ghys.