Ecclestone gives Ferrari his backing , “I hope they can win in 2013”

Bernie Ecclestone commenting on Fernando Alonso's year— He’s already forgotten about his disagreements with the team from Maranello, "Montezemolo is still a friend and I’m convinced that he didn’t really intend to say the things he said about me, about my age and my ability to continue to work. I’m happy – it’s just ‘role playing’!"

He’s also optimistic about the new Concorde Agreement, “we should be able to reach agreement soon", and denies that he’s ‘an ally’ of the Red Bull team: "All I said was that they deserved to win the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles again and that I didn’t agree with the stance Ferrari were taking with the appeal against the alleged and non-existent rule infringement by Vettel at Interlagos."

On the current crop of F1 drivers, he made two things abundantly clear: "I explained that Vettel is a true champion, but that he’s still young and can only improve in terms of being a character in the sport and in terms of his personality. As for Alonso, after 3 years of dominance by Red Bull it wouldn’t be too bad a thing if we were to have a change at the top of the sport, perhaps with Ferrari leading the way again." La Gazzetta dello Sport