Santander wants to continue sponsoring Alonso and Ferrari for another 10 years

The main sponsor of Ferrari, the Spanish bank Santander, announced through its director Emilio Botin that its investment with the Scuderia, through its support of driver Fernando Alonso, would continue for the next ten years.

Botin declared during a speech at a conference for a Madrid business school, as reported by the Spanish newspaper Marca: « We want to continue to be present in Formula 1 for at least the next ten years. I am convinced that in ten years, Fernando will still be as good as he is today. »

Stefano Domenicali, the sporting director of Ferrari, present in the room during the speech, nodded in agreement, adding: “I have no doubt that Fernando has a killer instinct, in the good sense of the term, to remain in Formula 1 for a long time. He is a very committed man.”

Indeed, the Spanish investment bank has been supporting the double world champion for years. It followed him to McLaren in 2007, for whom it was a financial supporter, but on a smaller scale as Botin states: “We had an interest in being with McLaren because we had banks in England. But it was a small sponsorship. When Lewis Hamilton was with the team, it was justified. Button is a great driver, but it’s different.”

At the start of the 2014 season, the Santander logo is still present on the suits of McLaren drivers, Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen, as observed on the podium at the first Grand Prix in Australia.

But Botin asserts that the partnership with Ferrari is not called into question by the lackluster start of the Scuderia’s season: « The partnership with Ferrari is the best we have had in our entire history. It is the key reason why the Santander bank is now present worldwide. »

Currently, the contract between Santander and Ferrari runs until 2017, while Alonso’s contract with Scuderia will expire in 2016.