Ferrari Success Leads to EUR25M Value for Santander

Following the first race of the new season, one cannot argue that Grupo Santander made a bad call joining Ferrari in Formula One. While keeping their commitments with McLaren Mercedes, the Spanish banking group signed a multi-year deal with the Scuderia in the late stages of the 2009 season, which was shortly followed by the signing of Fernando Alonso for the upcoming 3 years.

Being that Spain is a great market for Formula One racing – with Alonso being 2-time world champion and all – Santander couldn't have made a better deal in the series, especially since the Spaniard won his very first race at the wheel of the newly Santander-painted Ferrari F10.

And, if we are to think of the fact that Alonso made some successful runs with the car during testing – all of which happened on home soil, on the Valencia, Jerez and Barcelona circuits – we might agree that Santander's market value for their newly signed Ferrari deal has already reached some impressive figures.

According to market information group Sofres, we'd be right, as it seems that “the value of Santander's investment throughout the winter season and the 2010 Bahrain opener was EUR25 million,” as reported by the GMM news agency, citing the aforementioned agency.

By comparison, it seems that Santander's sponsorship value with McLaren Mercedes during the 2009 season was only EUR80 million. Obviously, the fact that the Woking based team was not a front-runner in the series last year and they also lacked the Alonso factor are some important causes for this quite low market value.

According to recent reports in Spain, the market share of the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix – broadcast live by La Sexta on Sunday – reached a huge 50 percent, which is somehow equal to what happened in Germany (with the German viewers obviously seeking a more extensive coverage on 7-time world champion Michael Schumacher).