Heinz-Harald Frentzen is prepared to break the pain barrier at Silverstone this weekend in an attempt to continue the run that saw him score only Jordan's second win at the French Grand Prix two weeks ago.

The German, who has won 23 of Jordan's 26 points this season, yesterday revealed that he had won the Magny Cours race while driving with a broken knee.

"I have some fractures in my right leg, in the knee area, " he admitted.

"But the pain was caused by an injured nerve. I only found out the Tuesday after Magny Cours. I still had a lot of pain during the race and decided to have it checked to make sure I didn't do more harm."

However, tests revealed large cracks in the knee but yesterday Frentzen denied that he had been told to take two months off to recuperate.

"No that is not quite true. They recommended that I don't walk and I don't do any dangerous sports," he said with a wry grin. "I have to give my leg time to get better and I am taking a risk, but it's not really a problem. It's getting better day by day.

"It is painful changing direction left to right, which we have here at Beckett's Corner," he added, "but the team has made some modifications to the cockpit to protect my knee."

Meanwhile, Frentzen's team-mate Damon Hill, for whom Silverstone will provide an emotional farewell to the sport, was yesterday keeping a low profile after cancelling a press conference at which he was scheduled to talk about his final fling in Formula One. Many believe that Hill is again expressing doubts about his decision to quit after an impressive performance at Silverstone in testing last week. However, while Hill prevaricates once more, Stewart boss Jackie Stewart said he believes Hill has to be clear on his decision.

"I spoke to Damon at Magny Cours and he seemed almost certain he was going to stop," said three-time world champion Stewart, also a close friend of Hill's father, two-time champion Graham Hill.

"But when I spoke to him here last Friday he was less clear. He felt the car was going well and he said `just when I had decided, everything starts going right'. He has got to decide. You can't be a little bit pregnant. You either are or you aren't."

Stewart is convinced that Hill's decision to leave Formula One, taken after crashing out in Canada and reinforced with a decision to make Silverstone on Sunday his final race, is the right choice.

"I think it is time for him to retire," he said.

"All he has been getting out of the sport is more aggravation than satisfaction and he has to think about the next phase of his life. At 38, he has a wonderful opportunity to set new parameters for himself. I was lucky to retire at 34 and had a wonderful life."

If and when Hill chooses to bow out, the likelihood of Eddie Irvine filling his seat next season looked a distinct possibility again as Stewart's Rubens Barrichello admitted that he was in talks with Ferrari about a drive in 2000.

"The truth is that, yes, I am talking to Ferrari, but I am also talking with Jackie. There have been no decisions yet and I haven't signed anything. If I wanted to move on from Stewart, the only teams would be McLaren or Ferrari."

Stewart, meanwhile, was reputedly ready to pay in the region of £6 million to secure the signature of one of the top drivers should Barrichello take a lucrative walk up the pit lane towards the Ferrari garage. But yesterday Stewart denied that such a figure was fiction. "There is no truth in that rumour at all," he said. "And that kind of figure would never come out of the mouth of a Scotsman. But the simple thing is Rubens's contract is up at the end of the year, so."

McLaren's David Coulthard revealed yesterday that he is keeping his future options open should his McLaren career suddenly turn sour. Four retirements in the opening seven Grands Prix of this year has left Coulthard desperately in need of reliability a problem which has eroded any hope of him becoming Formula One world champion.

However, Coulthard refuses to rule himself out of the running for this year's title but with the alarm bells beginning to ring for the 28-year-old, a lack of improvement over the next few races could force his hand and a move away may yet be on the cards.

Coulthard admitted: "I've not had talks with any other teams, but my manager has been in conversation with them because you have to keep your options open.

"I do want to stay at McLaren. I don't want to move because I feel we have the best driver line-up and the best package and I still feel I can win a world championship here.

"But if the situation changes and that (remaining with McLaren) is not an option, then you look towards the next best option and that becomes your favourite team and the process starts again."

No decision has been taken on whether the Stewart Formula One team will race as Jaguar next season, team boss Jackie Stewart said yesterday. "There is absolutely no decision taken in respect of that issue," Stewart said.

The former world champion conceded, however, that it was "quite a logical speculation" after Ford, which owns the Jaguar luxury sportscar marque, recently bought total control of the team currently carrying Stewart's name.