What does Santander actually do in motorsport?
Nearly everyone in the audience can name the logo, yet far fewer can say what the brand is doing across the grid at all.
Santander is retail and commercial banking, the official banking partner of the sport present at selected weekends rather than on a single team. Yet on the BoxBoxd panel only about 64% of fans can say this, even as 99% name the logo, a 35 point recall gap between being seen and being understood.
Shown a blurred Santander logo with no name attached, about 99 in every 100 fans still return the brand, which places it high on name recall across the grid, and yet the meaning trails a long way behind.
Why is Santander in motorsport
Santander has been a motorsport partner since 2025, carried on trackside and race by race branding, and the deal is built around retail and commercial banking, the official banking partner of the sport present at selected weekends rather than on a single team rather than a badge bought for visibility alone.
That is the part the audience is missing, because when the same fans who named the logo are asked what the brand does in motorsport, only about 64 in 100 can offer an answer, which leaves a 35 point gap between recognition and comprehension.
The biggest sponsorship gaps in Formula 1
Set against every other measured sponsor, here is where Santander sits on the distance between a name fans know and a role they can describe.
Recall gap in points, name recall minus meaning recall, on the BoxBoxd panel. See the full ranking with every sponsor.
FAQ
What does Santander do in motorsport?
Santander activates in motorsport as retail and commercial banking, the official banking partner of the sport present at selected weekends rather than on a single team. On the BoxBoxd panel only about 64% of the motorsport audience can describe this, even though 99% name the logo on sight.
Why is Santander in motorsport?
Santander has been a motorsport partner since 2025, carried on trackside and race by race branding. The partnership is about retail and commercial banking, the official banking partner of the sport present at selected weekends rather than on a single team rather than a logo alone, though most of the audience registers the placement without the meaning behind it.
Is Santander's motorsport sponsorship worth it?
It has bought strong name recognition, with about 99% of the audience recalling the logo, against 64% who can say what the brand does in motorsport, a 35 point recall gap. The recognition is there, the association is the part still to build.
How well do fans recall Santander as a sponsor?
About 99% aided name recall from a blurred logo against 64% meaning recall, a 35 point gap on the BoxBoxd Logo Game.
The reading is aided recall, where a blurred sponsor logo appears with no name attached and the audience is asked which brand it is. Source, the BoxBoxd fan panel. See the full field in every sponsor ranked by the gap.