Ron Dennis has hit back at suggestions he should step down as CEO of McLaren by labelling the former team manager-turned-TV pundit Eddie Jordan a 'village idiot'.

McLaren had endured a torrid first half to the 2015 Formula 1 World Championship season as new collaborators Honda struggle to bring its power unit up to speed. After nine events, the team has managed just two top ten finishes, scoring five points.

With the front-running success it had plotted still seemingly some way off, criticism is mounting on McLaren and Honda's failure to hit the ground running, with Jordan - who is part of the BBC's F1 television coverage team - calling management 'arrogant', before suggesting Dennis should go.

However, Dennis dismisses the suggestion by turning the focus back on Jordan - who created and headed up the eponymous Jordan Grand Prix F1 team between 1991 and 2005 -, calling him F1's 'village idiot'

"I consider Formula 1 a family, and families live in villages. And villages always have a village idiot. He fits the bill perfectly," Dennis told SkySports in an interview.

Dennis also moved to quell speculation that Jenson Button's days at McLaren are numbered, insisting there are no plans for him to be replaced by either Kevin Magnussen - who was forced to make way for Fernando Alonso - or GP2 Series dominator Stoffel Vandoorne.

"Jenson Button has a two-year contract with McLaren. We are not even thinking about drivers at the moment. Both of them are doing an amazing job."