I'm here to stay, insists Button

The Benetton-Renault supremo does not believe Button is performing well enough and publicly called on him to "get his act together".

He also offered the sophomore Grand Prix driver the chance to walk away from the team if he wanted to.

After a starring role with Williams-BMW last season, Button has been out-performed by team mate Giancarlo Fisichella for most of the year and scored just two points in 14 races compared to the little Italian's eight.

But a defiant Button insisted: "I will be at Benetton next year - I cannot see why I shouldn't be.

"I will be going out in the remaining races to give 100 percent, as I have done in every race this year. And I am confident that with the car I have now, we can have a good end to the season."

Button believes he can add to his points tally in Sunday's Italian Grand Prix in Monza.

"I will be looking for points," he said. "I think that is a real possibility."

Meanwhile, Briatore has denied his latest signing is under extreme pressure to perform, but insisted that he must now deliver the goods.

"Jenson has no pressure from the team," he said. "I have confidence in Jenson and everyone in the team likes him. But it has not got to come from us anymore - we have provided him with the car; it has got to come from him

"He needs to get his act together, but I am sure this weekend everything will come together. Each person in the team has to do their own part.

"We have done our part to improve the car, we have improved the engine and now Jenson needs to improve his results. We have two cars and we need to be racing with two cars.

"Jenson is as good as anyone else. But now he needs to motivate himself and start delivering the results.

"In the beginning there were lots of excuses - normally we understand that, because the car was very difficult to drive and if you have a young driver it is difficult to cope with a car like that. But now he has a car he likes.

"There are 800 people working on the engine and chassis, but in the end the driver is the one who delivers the result."

Asked if he had offered Button a way out of the team, Briatore said: "I never want to keep people in my company if they do not want to stay, even if there is a contract."