Villeneuve reports denied by manager

The F1 rumour mill got a little more heated than usual at the beginning of this week when the British press reported that Jacques Villeneuve had been spotted at the Paul Ricard track in France. Williams is one of the teams testing at the high tech facility this week and speculation quickly got carried away that Villeneuve would be behind the wheel for the Grove squad.

Jacques Villeneuve.

Photo by Brousseau Photo.

Williams dismissed the reports, saying if Villeneuve was there it was nothing to do with them, and according to the Canadian's manager, Craig Pollock, Jacques was in fact in Monaco. "I was extremely surprised to receive calls from a few top British journalists informing me that Jacques was seen at the Paul Ricard Circuit," Pollock told Villeneuve's website.

"Jacques was, in actual fact, training in Monaco with his personal trainer and was even more surprised than me to hear that he was apparently in Paul Ricard. We did have a good laugh together and had a good discussion about the good old F1 rumour mill!"

Villeneuve has been linked with a return to Williams in 2005 as a replacement for either Juan Pablo Montoya or Ralf Schumacher, presuming Ralf is indeed off to Toyota as everyone seems to think. Williams has admitted to talks with Villeneuve but stressed that no conclusions should be drawn from that. Jaguar's Mark Webber is reportedly top of the team's wish list.

Yesterday the Queen and Prince Phillip were spotted at McLaren's new Technology Centre in the UK -- rumours that Her Majesty will be behind the wheel of the MP4-19 at Monaco are yet to be confirmed.