In 2010, Santander became an official sponsor of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, the team with more wins and titles than any other in the history of the sport. The only team to have stayed in F1 ever since its first race in 1950, the scarlet cars set the pulses of fans racing all round the world.

“The partnership with Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro is much more than a sponsorship,” said Santander President Emilio Botín. “It’s an alliance between winners.”

In 2011 Ferrari will race with Spanish driver Fernando Alonso, two-time world champion, and Brazilian Felipe Massa, world championship runner-up in 2008.

Thanks to its 600 million unique viewers and an annual worldwide cumulative audience of 8.7 billion, Formula 1 represents the best global platform for unified branding and international positioning for Banco Santander. As a global sport that represents the pinnacle of technical excellence, F1 is perfectly aligned with Santander’s key values of leadership, dynamism, innovation and strength.

Santander arrived in Formula 1 by forming a long-term partnership with the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team, starting in the 2007 season. That year it also took title sponsorship of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, followed by title sponsorship of the German and Italian Grands Prix.

Two years later Santander extended its F1 activities by becoming an official sponsor of the most successful team of all time, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. Now, in 2011, Santander has added the Spanish Grand Prix to the list of races for which it is the title sponsor.

The Formula 1 sponsorship carried out by the Bank since 2007 illustrates the global reach of this sport, as it has enabled the Santander brand to be recognised worldwide in a short period of time. In 2010, Santander ranked third financial brand in terms of valuation, with USD 25.576 billion, according to the Top 500 Banking Brands listing made by the consultancy Brand Finance and published by The Banker.