CARLOS SAINZ
Chris Medland: A season in Verstappen's shadow was predicted for Sainz early on and while the standings suggest that was the case, the Spaniard stood out on his own on numerous occasions. Consistent at the start of the year and always quick in qualifying, Sainz scored in four of the first six races while his team-mate had only scored once. Was hit by a terrible reliability record in the middle of the season which put him on the back foot but also made a few more mistakes. Russia summed up his year with a big crash in practice, a brilliant fightback the following day in the race before reliability forced him to retire from the points.
Eric Silbermann: I’ve seen a lot of comments about Sainz having an unlucky season. How unlucky can he be? He’s a 21 year old kid from a well-off family who’s being paid to race a Formula 1 car that’s not a Manor, a McLaren or a Sauber. My heart bleeds. To be fair to the lad, he was the master of stoicism, keeping calm after his Toro Rosso fell over yet again and while his team-mate was being hailed as a god. He had a better understanding than Verstappen of what to do on a Saturday afternoon and he could easily have picked up as many points as the Dutchman but for some mechanical misery including seven car related DNFs. There were some big mistakes, big accidents and big impacts – his Russian shunt holds the record for 2015 at 42G - but there were also some exceptional performances. Monaco was a case in point, where he ran a 66 lap stint on one set of tyres and he also finished the season on a high in Abu Dhabi.
Julien Billiotte: I remember chatting with a senior motorsport journalist about Sainz’ double-edged promotion to F1 alongside Verstappen. We came to the conclusion that the only way for the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 winner’s debut to be seen in a positive light would be to smash his team-mate. Sainz eventually trailed his fellow Toro Rosso rookie by 31 points, yet his maiden season is considered favourably. This comes as a testament to the Spaniard’s undeniable speed – he outqualified Verstappen 10-9 – and poor luck, as his seven retirements all came because of a technical issue. With stakes getting higher at Toro Rosso in 2016, it will be fascinating to see how the Sainz-Verstappen battle unfolds.
Phillip van Osten: Hugely impressive debut season. Quietly asserted himself under the radar while all eyes were on his mercurial team-mate. Legitimately outqualified the latter several times in the first half of the season, demonstrating unquestionable speed coupled with superb style. Was unlucky to suffer from consecutive reliability issues when his Toro Rosso looked good for points. Still a gem in the raw but definitely a man to reckon with in the coming years.
Justin Hynes: Verstappen’s excellence was made vividly clear by how hard he was pushed by his extremely talented team-mate Sainz. Verstappen’s 49 points to Sainz’s 18 don’t do the Spaniard any favours but the stats don’t allow for the fact that Sainz bore the brunt of the mechanical frailty that blighted Toro Rosso’s season. He was denied by technical failures in any number of races and on other weekends hit trouble elsewhere, either in qualifying or through glitches such as poor pit stops. Some of his woes, however, were of his own making. The massive crash in Russia made his race recovery look heroic but mistakes such as that (and again in Austin) cost him dearly in terms of grid position. Despite all his troubles he did, however, edge Verstappen in qualifying across the season, showing that he would not be cowed by the Dutch teen and demonstrating a remarkable turn of speed. The ultimate verdict? Sainz is still a little rough around the edges but he is supremely quick and there is definitely more to come from the Spaniard, hopefully at a top team.
F1i scores: 7.5/10
