Intel is returning to the F1 pit to power its long-term racing partner, McLaren, powering their compute platform with x86 chips.
Intel Powers McLaren, while AMD Powers Mercedes In F1 Racing
Press Release: Intel Corporation and McLaren Racing today announced a multi-year, strategic partnership naming Intel Official Compute Partner of the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team, Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team, and McLaren F1 Sim Racing Team, delivering advanced computing for AI and high-performance architectures for one of the world’s most technologically demanding sports.
The collaboration brings together two iconic organizations united by a shared pursuit of peak performance—combining Intel's semiconductor and platform engineering leadership with McLaren's championship pedigree and on-track expertise.
Under the agreement, Intel Xeon and Intel Core Ultra processors will support McLaren's performance-critical workloads, including computational fluid dynamics, aerodynamic analysis, vehicle-dynamics simulation, race strategy analytics, and the real-time decision systems that connect the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking to every race garage on the global calendar.
Formula 1 racing and IndyCar generate and rely on massive volumes of data—from telemetry and simulation to real-time race strategy—where a difference in milliseconds can determine outcomes. Intel helps McLaren turn that data into actionable insight through a secure, scalable compute foundation spanning high-performance CPUs that support data-intensive AI workloads, low-latency edge computing, and diverse software platforms.
This collaboration builds on a broader trend across Formula 1, where deep technology partnerships are becoming a competitive differentiator—integrating infrastructure from factory to track to deliver faster insights and improved performance.
Driving Performance Through Compute and AI
Intel technologies will be deployed within McLaren Racing’s technology operations, including:
- Trackside edge computing to enable real-time analytics and race-day decision-making
- Advanced computing to power simulation, aerodynamics, and digital twins
- AI platforms to accelerate design cycles and predictive modeling
Together, the companies will co-engineer solutions to improve performance, efficiency, and sustainability.
As part of the partnership, Intel branding will be featured on the McLaren Mastercard F1 Team cars, starting from the Montreal race next weekend. Branding will also appear on the Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team cars at this year’s Freedom 250 in Washington, D.C., and at the iconic Indy 500 race in 2027. Next season, Intel branding will also appear on the virtual McLaren F1 Sim Racing Team car and across the on-stage simulator.
About the author: A Software Engineer by training and a PC enthusiast by passion, Hassan Mujtaba serves as Wccftech's Senior Editor for hardware section. With years of experience in the industry, he specializes in deep-dive technical analysis of next-generation CPU and GPU architectures, motherboards, and cooling solutions. His work involves not only breaking news on upcoming technologies but also extensive hands-on reviews and benchmarking.
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