Fernando Alonso has finally confirmed reports that Mercedes expressed interest in signing him up for 2017.
Ultimately, the German team replaced the suddenly-retired Nico Rosberg with Valtteri Bottas, but not before a reported round of phone calls to some of Formula 1's top drivers.
"I think Rosberg caught Mercedes by surprise and so they made a round of calls to everyone," Spaniard Alonso told Cadena Cope.
"They even said 'All the drivers called us' and I think it may be true. Whether they called them or the drivers called, I think they talked to the entire grid to have information and know every situation.
"I was no different. Toto Wolff called me in an informative, very calm way but I told him I had a contract with McLaren, that I was happy here and had no plans to do anything crazy.
"I think they also had a driver profile in mind - a Bottas or [Pascal] Wehrlein type - to fit with the Mercedes programme and not put too many obstacles for Hamilton.
"It was a two or three-minute conversation and nothing more than information."
The 2017 season gets under way next month with the Australian Grand Prix.
