Rosberg responded: “None of that surprises me because he’s [Ecclestone] been very open about that all the time; criticising anyone who is not as out there in the world like Lewis is in his manner.
“The more you are out there the better it is because you create more attention and all the rest of it, which is obvious because he’s the commercial rights holder and that’s what he wants, he wants some movement out there.
“Lewis does a lot of that in his own way and I’m a bit more reserved in that sense, so it’s not something that surprises me.
“I understand his opinion, everybody does because it’s a pretty straightforward thing, but at the same time I do care for the sport and I do think about it and I try to give a lot back to it in my own way. You can never do enough for what the fans give us, none of us do enough to give back and thank them.”
Rosberg says he will not change his ways after Ecclestone criticism
Rosberg now trails his Mercedes team-mate Hamilton by just 10 points after an extraordinary and unnecessary pit stop which cost Hamilton the race in Monte Carlo.
The German has admitted he was a “lucky” winner, but seemed astonished Mercedes had decided to bring Hamilton into the pits under the safety car at all.
“Stopping wasn’t on mind at all,” Rosberg added. “There were just a few laps to go, so I didn’t consider that at all.
• Coulthard: Hamilton’s trust in Mercedes will be dented by Monaco shocker
“I was very, very surprised then to see the safety car and not see Lewis. It was a big surprise and I thought ‘where the hell did he go?’
Mercedes meet today at the team factory in Brackley, Northamptonshire, to figure out how they got it so badly wrong in a race Hamilton wanted to win more than any other.