Stefano Domenicali says his heart will "always be red".
Red, of course, is the colour of Ferrari, the fabled Italian marque he represented for more than two decades.
But Domenicali, 49, left the Maranello team earlier this year, with poor results in the all-new turbo V6 era triggering the arrival of Marco Mattiacci.
Domenicali has been laying low since his exit, but he resurfaced at the weekend at Mugello, for the Italian round of MotoGP.
"Ferrari? My heart will always be red," Italian reports quote him as saying.
Also at Mugello on Sunday was Ferrari’s lead driver Fernando Alonso.
"It is my first time not just at a MotoGP race, but any motorcycle race," Alonso, who arrived in a red Ferrari F12, told Spain’s Marca newspaper.
The Spaniard also spoke about Ferrari’s flagging fortunes in 2014.
"We have to improve step by step — we cannot do quantum leaps," Alonso is quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport.
"We need to set the objective of creating a solid foundation not only for this year but for the future as well."