A stunning sixth place in the drivers' championship in his first year with McLaren vindicated Carlos Sainz’s decision to move to the squad from Renault. But the Spaniard has said that the “good vibes” at the team were plain to see even before the 2019 season got under way.

Sainz secured the highest championship finishing position of his career in 2019, claiming P6 thanks to a last-lap move on former Renault team mate Nico Hulkenberg for 10th place at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Sainz’s efforts alongside team mate Lando Norris also saw McLaren jump from sixth in the constructors’ standings in 2018 with 62 points to fourth (their best finishing position since 2012) with 145 points in 2019.

READ MORE: Behind the scenes with Carlos Sainz: Movie night, testing and P6 in the championship

And asked after the race in Abu Dhabi to reflect on his decision to leave Renault and join McLaren, Sainz said: “Obviously I have quite a lot [of satisfaction].

“I had good feelings when I moved to McLaren, even if things did not look very promising at the end of 2018. I did have some conversations with a lot of engineers, a lot of people – Zak [Brown] and all – and I don’t know, the project itself just gave me good vibes.

“I don’t know if it has anything to do with the good results, but those good vibes translated very quickly into results and a change in approach by McLaren, a very big change in the structure of the team.”