Toro Rosso driver Carlos Sainz Jr has said fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso was a good role model for the rookie driver during his first Formula One season.
Sainz had an impressive breakthrough season, scoring points in seven races earned him 15th in the drivers world championship standings. He did also suffer seven retirements but several of those were down to the reliability of the car. Whilst Sainz impressed Alonso struggled, eventually ending up 17th in the drivers world championship having only scored points on two occasions the reintroductions of the McLaren-Honda partnership did not go to plan.
Whilst Alonso and the team struggled on Sainz was using Alonso’s misfortune as a lesson on how to act when things aren’t going your way or you have a car that doesn’t perform to the best of your abilities. He said in an interview with Autosport.com that watching Alonso was a useful learning experience.
“He’s now going through a tough moment in his career so it is interesting to see how he reacts, how he still switches on and how he deals with all these things.
“It’s interesting to see, to observe, to learn. Last year was all about learning.
“Fernando doesn’t need to advise me because I always look and observe him.
“He hasn’t come to me and said, ‘maybe try this or think about doing that’.
“Just by speaking to him in the drivers parade, as you see me always, or around in the paddock. I can learn from him.
“It’s been a bit like a mirror, where to see yourself.”
Sainz said it was disappointing not have scored as many points as he could have because of unreliability but his bosses are aware of his potential.
“It’s not nice to see you don’t have all the points you deserve on the table,” he said.
“But in the end, the people’s view that I care about – Red Bull and Toro Rosso – they know all the points I could have now, they have done the calculation.
“I think more than one would be surprised to see the amount of points I could have in my bag without the reliability issues.
“From the calculations I have seen, I could have been a lot higher up, but you never know.
“At the end, you have to take it. This is sport, sometimes you don’t just depend on yourself.
“Hopefully in 2016, all this will be solved and we can go for it properly.
At least, the shocking 2015 McLaren had benefited one driver. The fact Sainz used Alonso’s misfortune to improve himself shows signs of great awareness and intelligence to never stop watching and learning how fellow drivers act and what they do.
