Alex Yoong - Formula One

Formula One

Yoong was visited by Minardi Sporting Director Rupert Manwaring during a visit to Malaysia to meet with potential backers for a Formula One seat. Manwaring offered him a seat, possibly as early as the British Grand Prix. By 5 July, Yoong had obtained sponsorship money from the government-backed Magnum Corporation which was speculated by the Singapore Straits Times to be worth $5 million which was never disclosed. He tested at Mugello becoming the first Malaysian to drive an Formula One car.

2001

Yoong made his Formula One debut at the Italian Grand Prix replacing Tarso Marques. On Friday practice, electrical problems limited Yoong's running and gearbox trouble cut short Saturday free practice. During Qualifying, he did not complete a flying lap with more gearbox problems and had to share the spare car with team-mate Fernando Alonso. Yoong retired from the race whilst running 15th. At Indianapolis, he qualified 22nd and overtook Arrows driver Enrique Bernoldi at the first corner. Yoong eventually retired after 38 laps due to gearbox failure. At Suzuka, a track he knew well, Yoong finished in 16th, three laps down.

2002

For 2002, Alonso left the team and Mark Webber became Yoong's new teammate. During the first race in Australia, he was beset by gearbox problems in free practice and spun twice when caught out by a wet track. Yoong qualified 21st ahead of Takuma Sato. During the race, he was up into ninth by the end of the first lap. Yoong was racing as high as fifth after passing David Coulthard for sixth. He eventually finished seventh after being passed by Mika Salo. This result was Yoong's best placed finish in Formula One. At his home race in Malaysia, he outpaced Eddie Irvine's Jaguar during Friday Practice. Yoong qualified 22nd and at the start of the race, he overtook his team-mate Webber at the first first segment of the race. His refuelling rig malfunctioned at his first pit stop costing him time and lost a place to Irvine. Yoong retired after a collision with Irvine. In Brazil, Yoong finished 13th despite spinning and called the toughest race he had ever done. At San Marino, he qualified 0.474s outside the 107% rule and failed to qualify. Yoong and Webber did not race in Spain after several rear and front wing failures for both drivers throughout practice and qualifying. In Austria, Yoong set a time over 4.2s slower than the pole sitter. During the race, he spun in fromt of Ralf Schumacher before the Williams lapped him. Yoong retired with an engine failure.

"Ironically, my entry into F1 did very little to promote motorsports in the country. Malaysia had a very limited motorsports scene back then and the focus completly disappeared from local events. We needed more Grade-II circuits, which were missing"

At Monaco, Yoong participated in the Historic Grand Prix of Monaco before the actual event. He drove a Lotus 72 that was driven by Ronnie Peterson. He led until a safety car intervention when Yoong discovered his car was stuck in fifth gear and was forced to drive in this manner until the end of the race. During the actual grand prix weekend, Yoong sustained an accident during Thursday practice followed by a similar incident in qualifying when on his first flying lap, he slid into the Ste Devote barrier. The race saw Yoong retired after running over debris on the approach to Massanet and sidewalled the armco to sustain damage his right rear trackrod. In Canada, he finished 14th despite a drink bottle button not being able to function and gained a penalty for speeding in the pit lane. At the Nurburging, Yoong declared the track "a bit of a go-kart circuit" as he disliked the layout. A second drive-through penalty was gained after he moved as the fifth red light came on at the start. At Silverstone, he failed to make the 107% cut during qualifying whilst a 10th place finish at Magny-Cours came as a welcome relief despite a spin. At the German Grand Prix, Yoong and his crew believed he would not be able to qualify and this was proven true after Yoong missed the 107% cut by 0.2s.

Rumors spread that Yoong was to be replaced by either Alonso, who was Renault's test driver or Bryan Herta and Justin Wilson. Minardi eventually settled for Anthony Davidson to competed in the Hungarian and Belgium Grand Prix whilst Yoong underwent a program in testing.

Yoong eventually returned for the Italian Grand Prix. Despite an electronic problem at his pitstop which cost him several minutes, Yoong ran comfortably ahead of Sato during the race to finish 13th. In America, his form improved to qualify 20th with a time three seconds slower than Michael Schumacher, but during the race, Yoong suffered an engine failure. At the final race at Suzuka, he made a brilliant start with an aggressive first lap that saw him pass Webber. On lap nine, Yoong spun into the gravel at turn two on Lap 14.