Former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has been appointed to similar role at Italian airline Alitalia.

The Italian, who managed the team in the mid-70s and was appointed president of the company in 1991 by FIAT Chairman Gianni Agnelli, finally resigned in September this year as the Maranello outfit's F1 fortunes continued to decline and amidst growing tension with FIAT Chrysler boss, Sergio Marchionne.

Montezemolo replaces Roberto Colaninno who resigned as president following a deal with Etihad in August which saw the Abu Dhabi airline purchase a 49% stake in Alitalia for a reputed 560m euros.

Earlier this week, the year of the long knives continued as Marco Mattiacci, who was brought in as Team Principal after Stefano Domenicali was fired, was himself kicked out of the company in favour of Maurizio Arrivabene, who joins the Italian team from Philip Morris.