Ecclestone told BBC Sport he had agreed to ex-racing driver Harry Stiller's proposal of a "joint venture".

But he did not clarify what that meant and rejected co-promoting the race.

"Stiller asked: 'Could we have a joint venture?' I said: 'Yes, I'm happy to do something where we lose money together or make it together,'" Ecclestone said.

Stiller approached Ecclestone because he was opposed to the plan by Silverstone's owner the British Racing Drivers' Club to finance the redevelopment of the track by leasing it to a property developer for 150 years.

BRDC chairman Stuart Rolt has admitted the plan is so unpopular it has little chance of being accepted by members.

Stiller has come up with a new redevelopment proposal, which would guarantee the British GP for 10 years.

His idea is for the BRDC and Ecclestone would share the costs of upgrading the circuit and split the profits from gate money and sponsorship and advertising revenues but all the assets would be retained by the BRDC.

In typically enigmatic style, Ecclestone added that he had "no agreement with Harry Stiller. I'm not going to be a promoter.

"Whether I could be Silverstone's promoter or not is academic, I'm not going to be.

"Silverstone have a contract and it's very clear - they've known exactly what the conditions are for a very long time. My name gets linked to so many things that aren't true - another one doesn't make a lot of difference."

The BRDC and Ecclestone signed a contract last December, securing Silverstone's role as the host of the British Grand Prix until 2009.

The contract requires the track to undergo a multi-million-pound redevelopment to bring it up to contemporary F1 standards.