Mar.5 (GMM) Although left standing without a race seat, Jacques Villeneuve has not given up on racing in formula one in 2010.

The 1997 world champion was close to signing with Stefan GP, but the Serbian team was not granted an official entry by the sport's governing FIA.

But the 38-year-old French Canadian is not giving up.

"I've been saying for a while that my priority is to be ready in the event that a new driver is not fast enough, or if one of the pay drivers does not bring the budget that he promises," he told France's Rue Frontenac.

Villeneuve admits the news about Stefan GP not getting an entry to field its Toyota-designed cars in 2010 is disappointing.

"But it's also not a huge surprise given the shortage of time to the beginning of the season," he said.

"I got the impression of a well born car and I saw that Mr Stefanovich and his team were serious people who understand the engineering tasks.

"The foundation is there, but the scheduled was very tight.

"If there's something positive in all this, it's that I had to step up my training with Erwin (Gollner). I have suffered, but I feel better than ever."

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