Understandably, slamming into hard concrete at skull-crushing speeds is not everyone’s cup of tea.

Alister Yoong, 18, who has blazed through international tracks and Formula Championships was almost born into it.

If the ‘Yoong’ in his surname rings a bell, that’s because he’s the son of the famous Alex Yoong, Malaysia’s first F1 driver. Of course, Alex’s father Hanifah Yoong was himself a motor rally driver and winner of the Malaysian Super Saga in 1991.

Alister’s father raced against the world’s fastest in 2001 and 2002 in the world class Formula 1 Championship, inspiring others in the country, including his own son, to take the wheel.

Now the growl of the engine roars inside Alister.

Taking on speeds as fast as 310km/h, Alister is following in his father’s footsteps to join the high-octane world of motor racing in the country.

Ironically, he got off to a slow start.

“When I started racing in 2016, I was already around 13. Most drivers get into it as young as five to six years old,” Alister told FMT.

“My first year was spent in go-kart racing in Malaysia, before racing internationally in 2017. In my third year of driving, I qualified for Formula 4 and at 15 , I was one of the youngest racers.”

Alister may have just recently cruised into the driving scene, but the young driver has already left his mark on both local and international tracks, where he’s successfully nabbed a couple of trophies.

“I won my first race when I was 15 in India’s Formula 4 Championship and at that stage, I was probably the third youngest Formula 4 winner ever,” said Alister.

A couple of years have gone by and although Alister is certain that drivers even younger than himself have since won the Formula 4 Championship, he continues to take part in local races like the Sepang 1,000km endurance race, adding more wins to his track record.

In January, he took part in the Formula 3 Asian Championship in Dubai but this time, he was not in it to win.

Instead, the young racer only took part in the pre-season testing, and made his debut as a tyre and fuel mechanic, spinning screwdrivers alongside a professional Formula 3 team.

“I was there for a whole season and to debut as a mechanic in a Formula 3 team was a huge success for me,” he said.

“Mechanics would typically start locally on go-karts but I jumped into the deep end and immediately began in a world class championship, so that was pretty cool,” he added, revealing that he signed up for the role just a week before flying to Dubai and with zero experience.

However, he said it took “a lot of learning and getting used to” to fend for the team. Along the way, he picked up a couple of lessons from other drivers.

Though Alister is now back in Malaysia, comfortably seated within the walls of his air-conditioned room, the young driver craves the sweet rush of adrenaline on race days, saying he would much rather be out on the tracks in the scorching heat, turning corners at breakneck speed.

Unfortunately, the recent pandemic has slammed the brakes on Alister’s career and halted all of his races, for now.

“I am very hungry to get back in the car and I miss competing professionally as nothing can replicate that feeling,” Alister said.

“Though technology can help you feel like you’re racing, you still can’t feel the intense pressure of the G-force, the heat or the wind.”

He also added that endurance was essential when confined for long periods of time in a cramped car seat. One will be “sweating like hell” and must have the strength to endure the crazy temperatures in the cockpit that soar as high as 50°C.

“Over the weekend in India, I lost 5kg when I was healthy. When I got a bit sick while racing, I lost a total of 10kg over just three days,” Alister said, explaining that it was all water weight from sweating profusely in India’s heat.

While having peak physicality is crucial, a sports car racer must also have nerves of steel as driving a Formula car is a total flip from driving through Malaysia’s notorious traffic jams.

“People don’t think of this as a sport and think it’s just turning a wheel and pushing pedals, but it’s a lot harder than that and I don’t think anyone can just jump in,” he said.

“The difference is unimaginable as in a race car you hit the pedal 10 times harder than in a normal car.”

The mental aspect is tough too, and Alister compares it to a fighter’s mindset, saying it’s like “stepping into the boxing ring and wanting to destroy your competition”.

Being the son of Alex Yoong brings with it certain expectations, but Alister said that at the end of the day, he was doing this for himself.

“I’m doing this for me because I want to become a professional racer,” he said.

Of course, he supplements this by saying that if he gets to make his father proud and carry the Malaysian flag, that would be a bonus.

To tame roaring mechanical beasts like Formula race cars takes years of practice and nerves of steel but Alister definitely has what it takes. After all, racing is in his DNA.

Having said “I like going fast,” the young driver shows no signs of slowing down. He wants to one day leave his own mark in the racing world. You could say he is a driven man.

For more updates on Alister’s journey on living life in the fast lane, follow him on Instagram.