Button: Ecclestone is wrong

Ecclestone told The Times newspaper this week that Button should take a leaf out of Michael Schumacher's book to learn how much effort he needs to put into F1.

"Michael has given up so much to achieve what he has achieved," Ecclestone said. "He is dedicated to what he is and puts himself under an awful lot of pressure. He'll win a race and next day start testing. I'm not sure whether Jenson is prepared to do that.

"I would say that Jenson is much like the old-time drivers. The Graham Hill type of driver with all the talent that they need, except nowadays you've got to be dedicated, too."

But Button has rubbished Ecclestone's verdict, and he insists he is making every effort he can to be successful.

"You have just got to look at the facts and statistics, which he hasn't done," said Button about Ecclestone's comments. "Over the winter I did more mileage than anyone in testing.

"He said something about me not working hard enough and not going from the races to the tests, but that is not true. I have done more mileage than anyone in testing.

"During the season it has been similar to Michael, so there are no facts to back up anything that says I don't put enough effort in. I put a lot of effort in.

"F1 is very different to how it was in the past. You have to work bloody hard and every driver is working hard, but people don't see that unless you look at every test we do, every bit of training we do, every time we visit the factory.

"No one really knows how hard we work. That goes for every driver, no driver is taking it easy."

He added: "I am 100 percent committed, I am giving everything. Everything I do with my life is to do with F1 and improving my career. So that (Ecclestone's view) couldn't be further from the truth."