Science about what struck him when he joined Ferrari

      In Formula 1, everyone spies on each other; this is a well-known fact, but even the drivers are not always aware of how detailed the information about their rivals is that the teams possess. Carlos Sainz admitted that when he joined Ferrari in 2021, he was literally shocked by the detailed analysis of his results that his new bosses presented to him – the team was then led by Mattia Binotto, and the position of sporting director was held by Laurent Mekies. Now, Binotto leads Audi F1, and Mekies is with Red Bull Racing. "I remember when I joined Ferrari, Mattia and Laurent showed me a document that reflected all my results over the previous six years compared to my teammates' results," the Spanish driver told RacingNews365. "I was amazed at how much they knew, even though at McLaren, Renault, and Toro Rosso, we thought that rivals shouldn't know this. But Ferrari had complete information on how I performed on a wet track, in changing weather conditions, on dry asphalt, in races, and in qualifying. They were watching me very closely, which is why I was chosen. And when they showed the statistics regarding the areas where I could improve, I couldn't help but think that these were indeed the metrics I needed to work on. I wasn't fully prepared for the fact that teams study all the information so thoroughly. I was very impressed, as in Maranello, they preferred me over Daniel Ricciardo and other candidates for the seat at Ferrari. But I was pleased that top teams have the necessary tools to handle all of this and see all the nuances."