As sponsor of Ferrari and technology partner for the Sauber team, AMD offered me the chance to join them at the US Grand Prix in Indianapolis a few weeks ago. Since Formula 1 (F1) is considered to be the ultimate geekfest for car and tech enthusiasts, I'm sure you can imagine how tough it was for me to accept this invitation and spend a weekend in the pit lane with the Ferrari team.

Just in case you haven't heard about Formula 1 - which is not too unusual in the Nascar- and Indy-crazy US - let's just say it is the most prestigious car racing series in the rest of the world. If you have missed the F1 so far, the race series consists of ten teams and major engine manufacturers who compete to develop the fastest and most advanced race cars to win an annual driver and manufacturer championship.

The 2005 Formula 1 US Grand Prix attracted more than 150,000 spectators to the Indianapolis race track.

In contrast to the Indy Racing League (IRL), the F1 typically has better staffed teams and is an open formula. Fewer regulations and restrictions translate into quickly rising budgets and stunning technologies in the cars. Since the F1 is a playground for engineers, some technologies also trickle down into mass-market cars over time. For example, you may have come across sequential manual gearboxes, steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters, as well as the drive-by-wire systems that are available in many German and Italian sports cars and sedans today. These had their origins in F1.

Car and engine makers - and especially their sponsors around the world - pour mind-boggling amounts of money into the F1 series; in the case of the Panasonic-Toyota team, more than $500 million per year. Successes are typically used for advertising purposes and to support an image as prestigious performance car maker. For example, most of Ferrari's exclusive reputation as maker of the most extreme sports cars is built on F1 victories. More recently, BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar and Toyota have been trying to transfer some F1 excitement into their mass-market lineup.

The two Ferrari F1 race cars near the team garage during the practice session.

Join us as we take an exclusive look behind the scenes of the world's most exciting race car series and see how technology makes the difference between victory and defeat.