Intel to step up racing sponsorship
"There are no comments on that at the moment," he said. "We are not making any comments on any of our negotiations. "When there is a deal and they want to announce it they will announce it. We will definitely have a title sponsor next year. "
09/23/05 We hear that the deal between McLaren and Intel is back on track with the plan being for a $55m title sponsorship for the Woking team from the giant American chipmaker. There had been some worries about the deal because of the recent deal between rival AMD and the FIA. It is not clear when the deal will be announced but we expect to see Intel on the McLarens in 2006 and beyond. Grandprix.com
09/19/05 McLaren may miss out on a $50m sponsorship deal because computer chip maker Intel is reportedly furious with the FIA.
Britain's 'Daily Telegraph' newspaper suggested that even Toyota could lose its small existing deal because the governing body is now too closely tied with Intel rival AMD.
A Monza announcement of the 2006 McLaren deal was apparently delayed after Max Mosley appeared in the Friday press conference with the FIA's new 'technology advisor', AMD's Henri Richard.
AMD and Intel are locked in a legal dispute regarding alleged anti-competitive behavior. [Editor's Note: For $50 million Intel could be the series 'title' sponsor for Champ Car for five full years, a far better deal than sponsoring McLaren for a single year. They will end up paying McLaren $250 million over five years (5 years @ $50 million).]
08/05/05 For those who do not follow the microprocessor industry, it is worth knowing that there is currently an all-out war going on between Intel and rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and this is, in part, a reason for the F1 sponsorship. AMD is with Ferrari but Intel now wants a bigger and better presence and so is talking to the biggest and best teams. AMD is currently suing Intel in various countries with accusations that it has illegally maintained a monopoly in the chip market with improper subsidies and threatened retaliation against firms if they used AMD products. Intel is rumored to be increasing its marketing budgets in order to counter a stronger challenge to its markets from AMD with the latest generation of microprocessors. Intel is making plenty of money but it is still looking for new business opportunities and is tipped to be looking at opportunities in the automobile industry, in addition to general telephony.
At the same time, Intel has also been restructuring and there are new attitudes. The firm recently named Paul Otellini as its new chief executive. He is the first Intel CEO not to have been an engineer, his training being largely in sales and marketing. Other management changes have given the company a much more competitive edge in marketing.
Formula 1 [And Champ Car] may be benefiting from the Intel-AMD battle but at the moment it is still not sure which team will be landing the loot. One thing we expect to see is the deal going to a team with manufacturer links, if only because this is sure to open up possibilities for Intel to sell chips to the car firms. Grandprix.com
08/04/05 
Rumor has it that the world's largest computer chip manufacturer, Intel, is in talks with the BAR Honda F1 team to become the primary sponsor in place of Lucky Strike, which is no longer allowed in most countries due to anti-tobacco laws. As you know, they have also been primary sponsor on Justin Wilson's RuSPORT Lola Ford Champ Car for a few races this year and word on the street is that they are going to take a much bigger role in Champ Car in 2006, helped by Kevin Kalkhoven's and Carl Russo's Silicon Valley ties.
Why the sudden interest by Intel? In the past Intel's customer was really, Dell Computers, IBM, HP, Toshiba, etc. They did not market directly to the consumer. However, now the consumer has a choice and can buy PCs with AMD, Intel, or even Asian company microprocessors and hence Intel wants consumers to choose PCs with their processors. Therefore, Intel wants to be certain its brand is a household name. Putting their name on a F1 car as well as a Champ Car gives Intel maximum exposure around the world as both series are equally as international, or at least they will be in two years when Champ Car completes its international expansion. F1 gives Intel more exposure in Europe and Champ Car in North America where each series is based respectively.
Look for McLaren to also announce a new primary sponsor that is computer related, and possibly even a competitor to Intel.