In the wake of Sauber's partnership with Chelsea, and Caterham's with Queen's Park Rangers, Marussia has announced a partnership with Russian-owned Reading FC.

Owned by Russian entrepreneur Anton Zingarevich, Reading FC - also known as 'The Royals' - currently play in the Championship, having been relegated after just one season in the Premiership. Ironically, QPR was also relegated from the Premiership this season.

According to the press release, the alliance is; "a meeting of minds between two major sporting properties operating in the two most high profile sports in the world. Both teams are owned by highly successful Russian entrepreneurs operating on an international stage and with the 'Premiership' firmly in their sights. The two parties will enjoy an exchange of benefits including significant branding exposure in their respective team environments, joint marketing and promotional initiatives, as well as integration at a human performance level, collaborating on fitness, nutrition and coaching programmes.

'The Royals' will feature for the first time on the MR02 race cars of Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi for today's race at Silverstone.

"We are delighted to be able to announce our partnership with Reading FC ahead of today's British Grand Prix," said Andy Webb, Marussia F1 Team CEO. "Of course, next year we will have two home races when we head to Sochi for the inaugural Russian Grand Prix, but for the moment we are a Russian owned team based on British soil which is the basis for a great deal of synergy with our friends at Reading FC. Through Formula 1 we are able to combine our love of racing with our strategic business objectives for the Marussia brand, but we are also part of a sport within Sport, so naturally we are keen to look more comprehensively at what we can learn from other sporting properties and indeed what they can learn from Formula 1. This is all part of our ethos of taking our Team and Formula 1 to the widest possible audience. We look forward to working with Anton Zingarevich and his team to achieve a fully integrated partnership and we are delighted to welcome representatives from 'The Royals' to Silverstone today."

"This is a fantastic partnership which allows us to connect two global sporting brands," added Nigel Howe, Chief Executive of Reading FC. "Both of us are based in the Thames Valley and are hugely ambitious; it is clear that we have plenty in common and can learn from each other. We will be proud to see our badge displayed at some of the world's most iconic tracks - this is one of many ambitious projects we have announced in the last year or so and I'm sure our supporters will share our excitement."

Editor's Note: In view of the 'success' enjoyed by both QPR and Reading in the Premiership, may we ask that any other F1 teams looking to forge "a meeting of minds" with a football club choose anyone, preferably Arsenal, and not Tottenham.