McLaren are not having a happy Spanish Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton saying new parts on his car have failed to make any difference to its performance, and events on the track bearing him out.

But the Mole has heard a whisper that could make it an even worse weekend for the embattled team.

The Mole has heard from an insider at the Spanish bank Santander, one of McLaren's major sponsors, that the company is getting ready to announce at the Italian Grand Prix in September that it will be switching to McLaren's rivals Ferrari in 2010.

A Ferrari-Santander link-up has long been rumoured within F1, related as it is to another long-standing rumour - that Fernando Alonso is also on his way to the Italian team.