Wednesday 21 July at 10:31 : Jul.21 (GMM) Jacques Villeneuve has moved to cool increasing speculation about his plans for a formula one team.

The Italian racing team Durango recently confirmed it is collaborating with Villeneuve Racing for the 13th F1 entry in 2011.

It was then reported on Tuesday that one of the 1997 world champion's backers is Al-Saadi al-Gaddafi, the 37-year-old son of Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi.

37-year-old Gaddafi Jr, reportedly with close ties to the state-owned oil company Tamoil, is known as a businessman and professional football player.

"There are a number of rumours circulating at the moment and I wanted to clarify a few things before this gets out of hand," Villeneuve said.

He confirmed the Italian based joint venture with Durango, but insisted that "all the money comes from corporate sponsorship, not from personal investors".

French Canadian Villeneuve, 39, set to qualify for NASCAR's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis this weekend, said he has "no further comment".