We found out this past weekend that Santander will be sponsoring Ferrari for the next five years. However, it now appears the Spanish banking giant will now have the market cornered in terms of top teams as they have also extended a sponsorship deal with McLaren as well. What gives?
This decision will see the banking company not only sponsor grand prix, but the two most successful teams in Formula 1 history. According to an article on AUTOSPORT, the deal with McLaren is mainly in line with Lewis Hamilton. Whereas it appears the deal with Ferrari is currently not associated with any one driver. According to the same article, Santander have seen brand awareness jump from 20% to 82%. With numbers like that it is easy to see why the giant would renew with the Woking based team. The deal with Ferrari is for a “main” sponsor deal for the team.
With this deal being signed, where can Santander go wrong? They have three of the best GPs on the calendar, and now the two best teams to ever grace the grid. I however, cannot remember the last time a company has sponsored two rival teams at the same time. Even during a season when the top teams have come from the back of the grid, Ferrari and McLaren are still fighting each other for third place overall in the manufacturers championship. This will definitely be a relationship worth watching as next season kicks off. With the banking group firmly behind Lewis, is there a chance we could see Lewis move over to a Ferrari within the next couple of years? Probably not, however it will definitely be worth keeping an eye on.
Don’t forget that their company logo somehow made it onto the Monza trophies….. Still not sure how the FIA let that happen.
Santander is the title sponsor for the British GP, the German GP, and the Italian GP. That’s why they were on the trophies at Monza.
I seem to recall the guys on SPEED making comments about how the trophies were not supposed to be allowed to resemble a sponsors logo….
I cant help but be annoyed that even the trophies distributed to the winners are bought and paid for by sponsorship dollars. What isn’t for sale in Max and Bernie’s F1?
“This intentional crash by Nelson Piquet Jr. sponsored by Renault. Nothing protects you better in a crash than superior Renault engineering….. Now, back to the race.”