Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has never been one to mince his words, so in airing his thoughts on Fernando Alonso this week you know his comments were from the heart and brimful of passion.
Di Montezemolo has described Alonso as "the best driver in the world", adding that "he is one of those drivers, like (Niki) Lauda and (Michael) Schumacher, who have had a great importance in my professional life and in that of Ferrari".
It goes without saying because right now Alonso is carrying the Maranello marque on his own, despite words of encouragement for team-mate Felipe Massa, believing the under-performing Brazilian has it within him to fight for wins and podiums this season.
Massa showed a glimpse of his former self in Monaco a fortnight ago when he finished sixth, his best display of the year by some margin, but will surely need the wins and podiums Alonso speaks of if he is to remain with the team for another season.
At least Alonso is doing his best to lift Massa, although maybe the Spaniard is feeling the pressure to some degree of being a 'one-man band'.
He should not, and certainly Di Montezemolo's comments underpin that, even if Alonso has on occasion infuriated in the past.
That was never more the case than during his ill-fated year with McLaren in 2007 when he threatened to expose the team over their role in the 'spygate' saga if they failed to give him the number one status he felt he was entitled to.
Then there was 'crashgate' in 2008, and although Alonso protested his innocence, insisting he knew nothing of the victory gifted to him by then Renault team-mate Nelson Piquet's deliberate crash in Singapore, there are those who remain sceptical.
Throw in the team orders fiasco in 2010 when Massa was forced to cede a near-certain win to Alonso in the German Grand Prix via a bungled radio message that brought into question the integrity of Ferrari and the 31-year-old, and you can see why there are doubts.
For the most part, however, Alonso is nothing short of brilliant behind the wheel - fast, precise, astute, tactically aware - to many he is the best of his generation.
His world title triumphs in 2005 and 2006 were deservedly won at a time when Renault were at the peak of their powers, ultimately hastening the departure of a man whose void he has now more than adequately filled, as noted by Di Montezemolo.
At present, after the first six races of the current campaign, Alonso's achievements are edging towards overshadowing his title successes.
In a car described at the start of the season as one of the worst Ferrari has built, Alonso seemingly has no right to be leading the championship as he does heading into Sunday's race in Canada.
But that is a mark of the man, of the driver, that on more of a level playing field than has been witnessed for years in Formula One, he has the edge.
Alonso is one of only two drivers to have scored points in every race so far this season - Lewis Hamilton the other - and in the same car in which Massa's only points-scoring finishes have been ninth and sixth.
Perhaps there was an element of good fortune with his victory in Malaysia, one even Alonso described as "a big surprise", where a heavy downpour played its part.
But in Spain and Monaco, finishing second and third respectively, luck played no part in those results as he simply extracted every last ounce of performance out of the car to haul himself on to the podium, one of Alonso's now traditional hallmarks.
Trailing Alonso by 13 points, Hamilton sees his former team-mate as his biggest rival, the animosity from their year together long having subsided into admiration and respect.
Do not expect that to metamorphose into the two joining forces at Ferrari any time soon as the feeling is Hamilton will remain with McLaren.
But certainly they, along with reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel, are the trio most likely to edge ahead of the rest when it comes to fighting for the title once this year settles down.
And for Alonso, three of the next four races in Canada, Britain and Germany, where power is key, will provide a strong indicator as to whether he is in the title race for the long haul.
Should he depart Hockenheim with the lead, or be very close to it, that third championship he craves will be his for the taking.
