Damon Hill yesterday refused to confirm or deny that tomorrow's British Grand Prix will be his last race.

A confident test at Silverstone last week in which, at one stage, Hill ran second to Michael Schumacher has led to speculation that Hill is having doubts about his decision to quit the Jordan team and the sport after tomorrow's race. Asked to confirm that this weekend would be his last in the sport a tetchy Hill refused to answer.

"I'm not even going to go there," he said. "I'm not even going to discuss that matter." Hill again performed well in yesterday's free practice setting the seventh fastest time of the day, for once ahead of team-mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

As Hill's on-off departure from Jordan floats off into the relams of cliffhanging soap-opera, Eddie Irvine's future was also beginning to take on the aspect of a mystery.

Irvine's move to the Stewart Ford team, for a reputed £6.25 million a year, was given weight on Thursday when Rubens Barrichello confirmed that he was in talks with the Italian team.

When and if Hill does depart, the name of McLaren's David Coulthard will, along with Irvine's, been at the top of the list of putative replacements. The Scot was a disappointing seventh in yesterday's morning session but regained ground in the afternoon, finishing fourth, behind Irvine, a galloping Ralf Schumacher and McLaren's Mika Hakkinen.

Frentzen failed to produce a significant time to follow-up his win in Magny Cours two weeks ago, and finished 14th, but the German denied that his broken right knee had caused him any difficulty. "My leg is fine, it is not causing any problems," he said.

Mika Hakkinen recorded the fastest time and said: "I think we're looking pretty strong here."