Santander wants Alonso at Ferrari

(GMM) Spanish sponsor Banco Santander will move its backing from McLaren to Ferrari after the 2009 formula one season, the bank's boss Emilio Botin has confirmed.

"Santander will be with Ferrari in 2010, yes," he is quoted as saying by the Spanish newspaper Diario AS.

Botin also made clear his desire to reunite the Santander logo with the car driven by Fernando Alonso, after the former double world champion left McLaren at the end of last year.

"Alonso is the best driver in the world and we would like to work with him, but that's not something that depends only on us," he insisted.

Ferrari's current race drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen are both contracted to the Italian team for 2009 and 2010.