Carlos Sainz is Toro Rosso's other young talent

Is experience overrated?

The Toro Rosso driver line-up had zero grands prix and just 37 years of life experience between them when the 2015 season began in Australia in March, but both Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz have firmly established themselves as stars of the season.

The Dutchman, who has only recently turned 18, generated more headlines through his audacious overtaking. However, we should not overlook the contribution of his Spanish team-mate.

Sainz out-qualified Verstappen 10-9 over the course of the season but suffered more reliability issues, which meant he finished the season with 18 points - 31 fewer than the teenager.

His most impressive weekend of the season came in Russia where he left his hospital bed after a frightening crash in Saturday practice to drive a superb race.

Starting from the back of the grid, Sainz clawed his way through the field to seventh before his brakes failed.

Refusing to give up - and showing the kind of tenacity that his father Carlos 'El Matador' Sainz showed when he won his two world rally titles in the early '90s - he twice returned to the track with a stricken car before finally accepting defeat when part of his rear wing fell off, having hit the wall because of a lack of said brakes.

At the next race in the United States, it was more of the same. A crash in qualifying meant he again started from the back before embarking on another overtaking spree.

He crossed the line in sixth but a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane meant he was demoted to seventh. Still, it was the best result of the season for a young man who showed the world in 2015 he will never give up.

View the full Stars of the Season list