At the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. CEO Lisa Su found herself in an awkward viral moment during a live Formula One grid walk — years before her chip company's meteoric rise transformed it into a more than $665 billion semiconductor powerhouse.



<h2>Viral Formula One Moment Put Lisa Su In Unexpected Spotlight</h2>



During Sky Sports commentator Martin Brundle's pre-race grid walk in Shanghai, he approached Su — then attending as the head of one of Ferrari's key sponsors — and asked, &#34;Do you speak English?&#34;



Su, who holds advanced engineering degrees from MIT and had already been leading AMD through a major turnaround, calmly replied, &#34;Yes, I do.&#34;



&#34;I’m with AMD. We are sponsoring the Ferrari car,&#34; Su said during the interview — a simple statement that, in hindsight, carried far more weight than many viewers realized.



Brundle appeared unaware he was speaking to the CEO of AMD. He had referred to her as his &#34;random person.&#34;



At the time, AMD had just announced a multiyear partnership with Scuderia Ferrari, with branding featured prominently on Ferrari's Formula One cars and team assets.



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<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div>
<blockquote>AMD's market cap had now risen 65x from $10B to $650B+ since Sky Sports asked Lisa Su if she could &#34;speak English&#34; at the starting grid during 2018 F1 Chinese Grand Prix. https://t.co/ReRgtz1Tdk pic.twitter.com/jkDIqBRxEZ— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) May 6, 2026</blockquote>
</div></figure>



<h2>AMD Stock Surge Under Lisa Su's Leadership</h2>



Since that day in April 2018, AMD shares have surged nearly 4,000%, fueled by the company's aggressive push into high-performance computing, artificial intelligence and data center chips.



AMD's market capitalization has expanded from roughly $10 billion at the time of the incident to more than $665 billion today, cementing Su as one of the semiconductor industry's most successful executives.



In 2020, the company also said that it had ended its Ferrari sponsorship. The chipmaker subsequently shifted its Formula One sponsorship to the Mercedes-AMG Petronas team.



<h2>AMD Q1 Earnings Top Estimates As Revenue Surges 38%</h2>



Earlier this month, AMD posted first-quarter revenue of $10.25 billion and adjusted earnings of $1.37 per share, topping analyst estimates of $9.89 billion and $1.29 per share, respectively.



Revenue rose 38% year over year.



For the second quarter, AMD forecast revenue of about $11.2 billion, above estimates of $10.52 billion, with adjusted gross margin expected to improve to 56% from 55%.



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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.



Photo Courtesy: jamesonwu1972 on Shutterstock.com

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Lisa Su, CEO of AMD, faced an awkward moment during a 2018 Formula One interview when asked if she spoke English. At that time, AMD was a key sponsor of Ferrari, and Su's calm response highlighted her leadership role. Since then, AMD's market cap has surged from $10 billion to over $665 billion, with shares rising nearly 4,000%. Recently, AMD reported Q1 revenue of $10.25 billion, exceeding estimates, and forecasts Q2 revenue of about $11.2 billion, indicating strong growth in high-performance computing and AI sectors.

- In the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix, AMD CEO Lisa Su's encounter with Sky Sports' Martin Brundle highlighted her unexpected prominence in the tech world.  
- Since that moment, AMD's market capitalization skyrocketed from $10 billion to over $665 billion, driven by its advancements in high-performance computing and artificial intelligence.  
- Recently, AMD reported Q1 revenue of $10.25 billion, exceeding estimates, and forecasted Q2 revenue of approximately $11.2 billion, reflecting continued strong growth.

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AMD CEO Lisa Su Got Asked 'Do You Speak English' At A Formula One Race Where The Chipmaker Was Sponsoring Ferrari: Here's How She Handled That