Santander Switch F1 Sponsorship To Ferrari

F1 champions Ferrari will be sponsored by Santander for the next five years after the Spanish bank agreed a lucrative commercial partnership to move their sponsorship rights from rival team McLaren from the beginning of the 2010 season.

The much-touted move has increased speculation that Spanish driver Fernando Alonso will soon move to the Italian team from Renault.

Santander declined to give financial details of the Ferrari sponsorship, which will include logos on the car and drivers’ overalls, and would not say if their current sponsorship deal with rival team McLaren would end. Santander has backed McLaren since 2007, when Alonso was with the Mercedes-powered team.

The Eurozone’s largest bank will continue to be the title sponsor for the Italian Grand Prix, British Grand Prix and German Grand Prix.