Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz says watching how fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso dealt with a difficult 2015 was a good lesson for his rookie campaign.
Sainz finished his debut season 15th in the drivers' standings, behind team-mate Max Verstappen but ahead of Alonso. The double world champion scored points just twice as McLaren's return to Honda power struggled throughout the year.
Though there were some outbursts, notably over the radio at Honda's home race in Japan, Alonso and team-mate Jenson Button managed to put a brave face on the team's struggles and head into 2016 with renewed optimism. Sainz says he was watching his fellow countryman closely and learned everything he could.
"He's a very good role model," Sainz told Autosport. "He's now going though 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 finished last year 31 points behind fellow rookie Verstappen but thinks that is an unfair reflection of his maiden season.
"It's not nice to see you don't have all the points you deserve on the table. 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."