Luca di Montezemolo , the Chairman of Ferrari and the unofficial Principle in Chief of its F1 division has denied rumors of quitting the road car group altogether after reports linked him to become the Chairman of the country’s state owned Alitalia airline. Di Montezemolo has been in charge of Ferrari since 1991 and was previously in charge of Fiat before that, he is credited with turning around the company’s fortunes instilling the values of  the late Enzo Ferrari, the company’s founder, a man with whom he had a close working relationship and bond when the two worked together. Alitalia was purchased last week by Abu Dhabi’s Etihad airlines and as soon as the deal was completed di Montezemolo’s  name went to the top of the list. There have been quit rumors before, Italian media speculated that Di Montezemolo would quit the road car business for good to run for the Presidency of Italy, but he never did. Ferrari is in Di Montezemolo’s blood and he is on record as saying  “after my family there is nothing more important than Ferrari”. However there may well be a non-executive place on the new Alitalia board but it must “not interfere with his responsibilities to the Prancing Horse”. Said a spokesperson.