Carlos Sainz says he is pleased to be earning the respect of other drivers but will not get carried away following praise from Jenson Button.

Button highlighted Sainz’s maturity when asked about which young driver is impressing him most so far this season. Asked by F1i about praise from Button, Sainz - who had not seen the 2009 world champion’s comments - says it is nice to be recognised by fellow drivers.

“I haven’t heard that from him, I would like to hear it because it is nice words coming from a world champion like Jenson,” Sainz said. “I have a good relationship with him and respect him a lot. I am thankful for those words.”

However, Sainz says he won’t get carried away by the impression he has made after just five races of the season.

“I am trying my best and hopefully I can build up some respect but it is early in the season, there are three quarters of the season to go. I will just keep focused, remain with the same approach that ii have had until now that appears to be working, and that’s it.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

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