Jenson Button has hit back at his McLaren team boss Ron Dennis following a critical assessment of the 2009 Formula One World Champions season to-date.
Executive chairman of McLaren Ron Dennis had laid down the gauntlet for British driver who is in his final year of his contract at McLaren.
Button leads rookie team-mate Kevin Magnussen in the championship by 14 points, but he has failed to dominate his team-mate like many would have expected.
Magnussen has recently had the better of Button in qualifying and Dennis would like to see Button raise his game.
?I?m sure Kevin is giving a big wake-up call to Jenson. In some ways you say: ?Great, we?ve made a great choice with Kevin.? But in other ways you say: ?Come on Jenson, you are a World Champion and absolutely one thing you can do on a consistent basis ? and you should be doing it ? is beating your team-mate.? Dennis told Sky Sports.
?Do I want him to try harder? Of course I do. He?s a highly-paid grand prix driver. We are not giving him the best car and yes, it would be challenging for him to win in this car, but he could do his bit and Kevin has to make it as difficult for him as possible.?
Button insists he is happy at McLaren despite the teams slide down the grid and his modest results in 2014 thus far.
Button’s best finish of the season was in the season opening race in Australia. Button finished the race fourth but was elevated to third following the disqualification of Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo.
It was a solid start from McLaren as rookie team-mate Kevin Magnussen was handed a second place finish from his debut Grand Prix.
Those results however have proved to be a season best for McLaren, with Button’s next best finish a fourth in Canada, whilst Magnussen finished seventh in Austria.
‘Ron’s practising to be a motivational speaker, maybe.
‘I know you have to give 100% in F1 and I always do – at the track, in the factory, everything is 100%.’ Button told the BBC.
‘We all need to work harder as a team. I don’t think we should be pointing our finger at any individual.
‘We have got ourselves in this situation and we have to get ourselves out of it. I don’t do things in half measures.’
