Intel announces McLaren F1 partnership, will battle AMD-powered Mercedes — deal includes chips for aerodynamic analysis, vehicle-dynamics simulation, race strategy analytics, and more Compute performance arms race now driving F1's fiercest rivals. Intel has announced a multi-year strategic partnership with F1's legendary McLaren Racing team. The chipmaker is now the Official Compute Partner of the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team, Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team, and McLaren F1 Sim Racing Team, according to a press release today. Interestingly, this announcement again pits Intel against its PC chip industry nemesis, AMD. The Red Team has already been working in partnership with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team for six years. Intel's PR blurb says F1 racing is "one of the world’s most technologically demanding sports." Thus, Intel engineers will be tasked with delivering advanced computing for AI and high-performance architectures that are required to keep McLaren competitive. The new agreement means that systems using Intel Xeon and Core Ultra chips will be leveraged to support McLaren's quest for the ultimate performance on the track. Specific calculations that F1 engineers spend their days optimizing for include "performance-critical workloads, including computational fluid dynamics, aerodynamic analysis, vehicle-dynamics simulation, [and] race strategy analytics." As well as real-time data, F1 support computers are used to sift through massive volumes of post-race data. Computers used to optimize F1 racing cars are also increasingly using AI tools, plus low-latency edge computing solutions, and diverse software platforms. "Formula 1 racing and IndyCar are some of the ultimate proving grounds for high-performance computing. Intel is proud to be McLaren Racing’s compute partner, and to be part of a team that thrives on precision, speed, and innovation," said Lip-Bu Tan, Intel CEO. "Together, Intel and McLaren will push the boundaries of what’s possible, transforming data into competitive advantage at every turn." A