Alexander Charles Yoong Loong (Chinese: 熊龙; pinyin: Xióng Lóng; born 20 July 1976) is a Malaysian racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One at 18 Grands Prix from 2001 to 2002. Yoong remains the only Malaysian driver to compete in Formula One.
Born in Kuala Lumpur to a Malaysian Chinese father and English mother, Yoong began his career in saloon cars before moving into the Proton one-make series. He later raced in single-seater cars where he won the Malaysian Championship in 1995. He moved into Formula Renault in 1996 with help from sponsors but finished outside the top-10. Yoong consulted his father, who believed his son would succeed in lower categories. Yoong decided to drive in Formula Three but dropped out in 1999 after withdrawal from his sponsors. He subsequently went into Formula 3000 and managed to improve despite a horrific crash at Spa-Francorchamps during the season. Yoong also raced in Formula Nippon where he achieved no success.
Yoong became the first and, as of 2025, only Malaysian to race in Formula One with Minardi at the 2001 Italian Grand Prix and left the sport in 2002. Yoong had a less successful career in CART World Series but had improved in the Porsche Carrera Cup with a less successful foray into V8 Supercars. Yoong raced in A1 Grand Prix series between 2005 and 2008 and scored three victories. In between this, Yoong raced in the Le Mans 24 Hours. Yoong worked for Lotus Racing as head of driver development and is also a commentator for Fox Sports Asia.
Yoong was born on 20 July 1976 at the Sambhi Clinic in Kuala Lumpur. His mother, Johanna Bean, is English, and his father Hanifah Yoong Yin Fah is a Malaysian of Chinese descent through Alex's grandfather Yoong Wan Hoi who emigrated in 1933. His grandfather worked as a contractor and steel trader but was forced to retire during the 1997 Asian financial crisis. In an interview in 1999, Yoong states that he sees himself first as a Malaysian, then part Chinese and part English. His father started racing sedans in 1978, and his mother followed suit in 1983 in rallying. Yoong became an avid follower of Formula One by the age of four. He cited Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna as his racing heroes. With a Kawasaki 50cc motocross bike he got on his eighth birthday, Yoong first showed his talent at racing.
Yoong's early racing career started in saloon cars in 1992 when he was 16. Yoong became the youngest driver in Malaysian motorsport history and moved into a one-make Proton series. He secured his first pole and won in his fourth role and ended up winning two out of five races. In late 1992, Yoong took up saloon racing and took a Toyota Corolla to the Macau Grand Prix and finished third in the 1600cc class in the Guia Race. Yoong later moved up into a 400-horsepower DTM-spec BMW and was the most powerful saloon in the region.
Moving up into the Formula Asia International Championship in 1994 with a RM 50,000 loan, Yoong took several podium finishes before claiming his first win in the season-ending round at Zhuhai in China. This result led to Yoong to go a title challenge in 1995. He had won the Malaysian national crown, but the Continental Championship campaign was far less successful; producing eight wins and finishing second in the championship missing out by two points. Within the same year, Yoong assisted in the filming of Jackie Chan's racing film Thunderbolt at Shah Alam which led to Chan describing him as a "very good racing driver". Yoong was contacted by Paul Stewart to test a Formula Vauxhall car before he gained the opportunity to test a Formula Renault Sport machine at Donington Park and Snetterton for the Startline Racing team.
Yoong began a campaign in Formula Renault with Startline Racing in 1996 along with sponsorship from Malaysian tyre manufacturer, Silverstone tyres. At the first round in Donington, on lap one, Yoong outbraked three cars entering the Melbourne hairpin with his four tyres locking up, and by the fifth lap, Yoong was in sixth but an eventual collision with Rollo McNally but managed to finish 20th. Throughout the rest of the season, Yoong managed to score numerous top six finishes but was unable to win a race. Going into 1997, Yoong remained with Startline and believed he had a chance of competing for race wins. But inexperience shown by a crash at the fourth round at Donington along with an uncompetitive chassis saw Yoong finish outside the top 10 of the championship.
Yoong consulted with his father Hanifah, and believed the best chance was to go into lower categories. However, he decided to go into Formula Three to convince himself that he was a skilled driver. He joined Portman Racing Team in their Dallara HKS-Mitsubishi. Joining them at Spa, Yoong finished 16th in a field of thirty cars and came 11th at the next round at Silverstone.
During the off-season, Yoong took up mental and physical training with psychologists at the Bukit Jalil Sports Complex back in Malaysia. The training gave Yoong confidence when arriving back in England in 1998. Remaining with Portman Racing, the team was using Renault engines for their Dallara F397 and F398 chassis. Consistency brought Yoong results in the lower half of the top-ten, which included two sixth places at Silverstone. Going into the round at Spa, Yoong switched to Alan Docking Racing. He had to adjust to the Mugen-Honda engine and came up with results very similar to Portman Racing.
1999 proved to be a watershed year. Yoong's sponsors dropped out, and his father was forced to fund his son's racing activities until the family became indebted. He missed the first two rounds of the year but made a strong comeback when he returned at Thruxton. Driving a Dallara F399 Mugen Honda, Yoong finished sixth, 11 seconds behind winner Jenson Button. He followed this strong finish with fifth at Brands Hatch, in a race that covered the top seven by 3.4 seconds. The second race at Brands Hatch saw Yoong record a second-place behind Narain Karthikeyan, which was followed up with another sixth at Oulton Park before leaving the series for Formula 3000. This result confirmed, Yoong moved up from 268th to 214th in the world rankings. Overall, Yoong finished 11th in the championship.
Yoong joined the Italian F3000 championship from the third round onwards. During his time with Monaco Motorsports, a team run by ex-Formula One driver Lamberto Leoni, he was a team-mate to Marco Apicella. On Yoong's debut at Enna Pergusa, he qualified 12th. He finished fifth.
At the next round at Donington, Yoong ended up starting fifth and drove arguably the best race of his career. During the race that caused unpredictable conditions and other competitors spinning out, Yoong ended up second at the midpoint, two seconds behind leader Werner Lupberger. The pair pulled out a 22-second gap over the entire field. With the deployment of the safety car to clear several cars who had retired, Yoong was unable to see the safety car's lights in the spray. This mistake costed him eight seconds behind Lupberger, but Yoong set five consecutive fastest laps to catch up. Later in the race, while he was in fifth gear at 220 km/h, he aquaplaned and spun after hitting a puddle. But, Yoong miraculously recovered and once again closed on Lupberger. In the end, he finished second, 1.217s behind Lupberger.
Despite this brilliant result, Yoong was unable to qualify in Austria, Germany, or Hungary. In Belgium, having qualified 16th and up into 11th by the fifth lap, he collided with Justin Wilson's Astromega car going into Eau Rouge. Yoong lost control and hurtled left side first into the tyre barrier at 260 km/h with an impact of around 6.5G. He was knocked unconscious for 20 minutes. He was treated by Sid Watkins and the FIA medical team on the scene. They discovered that Yoong's helmet was badly damaged but was still intact. After 10 minutes, he was freed and taken to the track medical centre before he was taken by helicopter to the Liège hospital for a complete body and brain scan. Yoong was cleared by doctors of any neurological or spinal injuries but was kept for observation. Yoong managed to attend the race at Misano but needing crutches to walk and declared himself 80% fit and qualified ninth and finished in the same place.