Profile of Alex Yoong on Famous Like Me

Alex Yoong (熊龍, pinyin: Xióng Lóng, born July 20, 1976) is a Malaysian race car driver. Backed by the Malaysian lottery company Magnum he was given the chance to drive three Formula One races in 2001 for the Minardi team, debuting at the Italian GP. The deal was extended for the whole 2002 season, however after a good result of seventh in the Australian Grand Prix he struggled to be competitive. After failing to qualify for some races, he was replaced by Anthony Davidson for two mid-season races. Although his form did improve afterwards, his Formula One career ended at the close of season. He competed in 15 Formula 1 races with the best results of 7th in Australia and 10th in France.

Since that time, Yoong has struggled to remain visible in international motorsports. A promising start in the American Champcar series in 2003 (9th in Mexico), his season was cut short due to the team's lack of funds, and Yoong failed to impress in his few drives in the Australian V8 Supercar series in 2004. He has remained an enthusiastic promoter of motorsports in his home country however, and has been seen doing media and Formula 1 commentating work for Malaysian television and ESPN-Star. Currently he is the A1GP franchise seat holder for Malaysia and is expected to drive along with Fairuz Fauzy. He also co-presents Formula One live coverage at 8TV. He now drives for Malaysia in the new A1GP series.

• Formula One firsts:
  • First ethnic Chinese Formula 1 driver
  • First Malaysian Formula 1 driver

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