Carlos Sainz was surprised to discover the depth of Ferrari's analysis of his results last year, the future Scuderia charger not expecting, as a midfield contender, as much scrutiny from the Italian outfit.
The 25-year-old Spaniard will leave McLaren at the end of the 2020 season and become a resident of Maranello where he will replace Sebastian Vettel alongside teammate Charles Leclerc.
Sainz enjoyed an impressive 2019 season, helping deliver to McLaren the honorary title of 'best of the rest' in the Constructors' standings and capping off his campaign with a podium finish in Brazil, a performance that certainly boosted his stock in Ferrari's eyes.
But the productive result wasn't the only factor that incited Ferrari to include the Spaniard in its 2021 line-up.
"Of course it had an influence. I cannot deny a podium makes you be a bit more in the spotlight and people look at you," he told ESPN.
"But from what I’ve seen from how the top teams analyse the drivers, it’s in a much more complete picture than what I thought at first.
"It’s a lot more detailed than I thought, so I’m sure they were looking into my previous seasons, not only into that podium in Brazil but also the consistency of the campaign and finishing P6 in the Drivers’ Championship."
Sainz admitted that he was unaware that a top team such as Ferrari was playing close attention to what was going on in F1's midfield.
"I think they analyse a lot more stuff than I thought, and this was a bit of a surprise, the amount of analysis the teams sometimes go into individually.
"So a good surprise because sometimes in the midfield you think they’re not looking into you too much or you’re not on TV much!"
Sainz obviously remains under contract with McLaren until the end of the season, committed to the papaya squad and putting Ferrari aside for now, admitting that he hasn't even visited Maranello yet.
"I’ve not been there yet," he said.
"For contractual reasons and for a matter of full commitment to my team, I’m not planning on being related to Ferrari or anything near Ferrari in the next couple of months."
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