Santander President Visits Ferrari Garage at Jerez

Ferrari had a special guest during the second day of testing on the Jerez circuit in Spain, in the person of Emilio Botin. For those of you who aren't that familiar with him, know that he is the President of Banco Santander, Ferrari's new sponsor in Formula One.

“Emilio Botin, Banco Santander President, wanted to follow a test session while the team is working in Spain. Botin greeted Felipe Massa inbetween the laps and also spoke with Fernando Alonso, who showed him the Scuderia’s box,” said Ferrari on their website.

The Spanish bank inked a multi-year deal with Ferrari during the last year's Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Until then, Santander were only sponsoring McLaren Mercedes, a move they pulled off back when countryman Fernando Alonso was driving for the British outfit. The Ferrari agreement was actually the first clue that the 2-time world champion would join the Scuderia in the near future.

Nevertheless, Santander's sponsorship for Ferrari did not lead to an ending to their McLaren sponsorship, as they will continue their partnership with the Woking based organization in order to maintain their image in the UK (through world champion Lewis Hamilton). Nevertheless, we hardly remember Botin being present in the McLaren garage during one of their tests in recent years.

As far as testing is concerned, Felipe Massa ended his run at Jerez yesterday, with the 5th best time of the pack (despite driving the 282 chassis F10 for the most laps of the day, 91). The testing responsibilities will be handed to Alonso for the final two days of testing, as the Spaniard will make his first run on the new-chassis F10 this morning.