Santander gets EUR25m value from F1 winter, opener

The value of Santander’s investment throughout the winter season and the 2010 Bahrain opener was EUR25 million, according to reports in the Spanish press.

The Spanish bank is Ferrari’s new main sponsor, with an annual spend estimated at 40 million.

The sources, reportedly with the input of the market information group Sofres, said the value of Santander’s sponsorship for the entire 2009 season with McLaren was just 80m.

On Monday it emerged that the sport’s television viewing figures within Germany had doubled, and similarly impressive numbers have now emerged from Spain, the country of the new Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso.

An average 5.6 million Spaniards watched Sunday’s live coverage on La Sexta, which like Germany was around a 50 per cent market share.