ST ALBANS race ace Mohamed Fairuz took one step closer to his dream of becoming a Formula One driver by scoring his first ever podium finish in round seven of the Formula Renault UK Championship at Snetterton in Norfolk at the weekend.

The 27-year-old, who comes from Malaysia, started seventh on the 21-car grid.

Rain shortly after the start of the race made the going treacherous, but even with speeds approaching 150mph, Fairuz demonstrated superb car control to move up to third by the chequered flag, and afterwards was obviously delighted with the result of the race.

"It was extremely difficult and every lap was a battle to keep the car on the track," he said. "I'm delighted to score my team Saxon International's first podium finish of the year. I hope it's the first of many."

Formula Renault has proven to be a training ground for potential future F1 starts last year's champion, Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen, now drives for the Sauber team and Malaysia, which already hosts its own Grand Prix, is keen to have a driver on the grid.

Although the future is looking bright for Fairuz, his immediate attention will be focused on Sunday's eighth round of the championship at Croft in north Yorkshire.