McLaren sensation Lewis Hamilton is about to hit British TV screens in his first fully-fledged advertising campaign, putting Santander and Abbey on pole as they beat McLaren title sponsor Vodafone in delivering the world's first TV advertisement featuring rookie sensation - and World Championship leader - Lewis Hamilton in full narrative

Santander and Abbey have announce a series of promotional activities to further support their title sponsorship of the British Grand Prix, which takes place at Silverstone next month.

Santander, one of the world's largest banks, is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2007, and has embarked on a high profile entry into Formula One sponsorship, which as well as the Santander British Grand Prix, also includes sponsorship of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team.

Abbey, the UK's 6th largest bank and a wholly owned part of the Santander Group since 2004, will be providing integrated support for the sponsorships, with equal branding at the British Grand Prix in terms of trackside signage, advertising, circuit promotions and guest fulfilment programmes.

In addition to making his presence felt at the front end of the F1. grid, Lewis Hamilton is making a dramatic impact in Abbey's 714 branches across the United Kingdom - all of which now boast life-sized displays as part of an Abbey Mortgage consumer promotion. The promotion not only involves giving away one hundred pairs of grandstand tickets to the British Grand Prix, but one of the lucky winners will also then walk away with £100,000. The lucky winner's name will be drawn and announced by Lewis at Silverstone on race day, 8th July.

Complementing the nationwide in-branch promotions will be a major television ad campaign also featuring Lewis. The television campaign goes on-air from 25th June and will cover all major terrestrial and satellite channels. The 40-second film is aimed at broadening to a wider mainstream audience the Santander Abbey 'parentage' message. The ad was filmed in London last month and is the first television advertising campaign to feature Lewis in full narrative.

Jeremy Davies, Director of Brand and Communications, Abbey, said: "Santander is one of the world's leading banks with operations in over 40 countries, making it a major force in financial services. Our three-year sponsorship of the British Grand Prix is aimed at promoting the relationship between Santander and Abbey while at the same time giving our customers and employees a unique opportunity to experience first-hand for themselves the excitement and success of our blue-chip partnership with the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team. Like Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, Santander and Abbey are always working to be the best and we are very excited at the prospect of seeing both our drivers maintaining the charge at Silverstone in a few weeks from now."

Juan Manuel Cendoya, Group head of communications, corporate marketing and research, said: "Santander is delighted to be sponsoring the British Grand Prix, the cornerstone event of the Formula One season. Through our Formula One sponsorship, the Santander Group can better reach its key audiences in the United Kingdom and the many other countries in which we are present. The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team and its drivers represent the spirit of innovation, leadership, competition and teamwork that Santander and Abbey stand for."