Sir Jackie Stewart has strenuously denied rumours that Sir Fred Goodwin, the former chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, is hiding at his Swiss home.

The whereabouts of Sir Fred has been a mystery since he left Edinburgh last month following anger at his £700,000-a-year pension from the stricken bank.

Sir Jackie, who is paid £1million a year by RBS to act as a “global ambassador, was reported today to have provided sanctuary for the banker at his secluded home north of Lake Geneva.

But the former world racing champion, who is in London today, said that although Sir Fred had stayed at his Swiss home in the past he had not been there this year.

“I have been there for six weeks,” said Sir Jackie, 69. “I am telling you [Sir Fred] is not staying with me. I don’t even know when he left the UK. He has stayed with me in past years with things being around, the Geneva motor show and things, but not this year. I have no idea where the story came from. The story is an error.”

Sir Fred and his family have not been seen in public since they left Edinburgh in the middle of last month. There were reports that they took a budget flight from Edinburgh to Nice while others have claimed the Goodwins are staying at the villa of a wealthy banker friend on the Spanish island of Majorca. The banker is also reported to have been in South Africa, New Zealand and the United States.

Sir Jackie warned at the weekend that the growing “witch hunt” against Sir Fred could bring down RBS. In an interview from his Swiss home he said: “It is absurd to blame one man. Some 180,000 people worked for RBS at one time.”

The Grand Prix legend, who won the Formula One world championship three times, said that he stood by his comments but that did not mean he was putting up Sir Fred.

“I did an interview the other day and I mentioned Fred because I was asked the question and all I’ve had is a heap of aggravation since,” he said. “Everything I said I would not turn my head against saying again but I don’t want to get into it. It is not my life and it's not my issue.”

Sir Fred worships the motor racing champion and invariably wore Sir Jackie’s specially designed tartan when he attended grands prix. He also had a photograph of Sir Jackie in his office at RBS’s headquarters.

Sir Jackie was hired by Sir Fred in 2004 to promote the bank’s international brand. Other sporting ambassadors appointed by the bank included Zara Phillips, Andy Murray, Sachin Tendulkar and Jack Nicklaus.

Sir Jackie, whose updated autobiography Winning is Not Enough is published next week, has said he would forgo his RBS payment for this year but would resume the contract in 2010. His current contract ends in 2011.

The Times reported last month that Sir Fred been advised by friends to move abroad for several months to avoid growing public anger. The banker was reported to have taken his two children out of their schools temporarily after fears over their safety.

Vandals have attacked the family’s £3million Edinburgh home while a branch of RBS in the City of London was wrecked during last week’s protests at the G20 summit.

The annual meeting of RBS shareholders in Edinburgh on Friday was told that Sir Fred was considering giving up part of his pension entitlement amid claims that he was “the greatest benefits scrounger in history”. The claim that he would forgo some of his pension was later denied.

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