Bianca Bustamante

Bianca Bustamante
Nationality	Filipina
Born	(2005-01-19) 19 January 2005 (age 19) Manila, Philippines
F1 Academy career
Debut season	2023
Current team	ART Grand Prix
Car number	16
Former teams	Prema Racing
Starts	23 (23 entries)
Wins	2
Podiums	4
Poles	1
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	7th in 2023
Previous series
2022	W Series

Bianca Bustamante (born 19 January 2005) is a Filipina racing driver who currently competes for ART Grand Prix in F1 Academy. She is a part of the McLaren Driver Development Programme.

Career

W Series

Bustamante in W series at the 2022 British Grand Prix

From 31 January to 4 February 2022, Bustamante competed in a W Series test in Arizona, United States, along with 14 other prospective drivers. ^[1] She then participated in a second pre-season test in Barcelona on 2–4 March along with 11 other potential drivers and 9 automatic qualifiers from the previous W Series season. ^[2] On 22 March, Bustamante was confirmed to compete in the 2022 W Series season. ^[3] She finished the season in 15th place scoring 2 points across 7 races.

Formula 4 UAE Championship

On 9 January 2023, Bustamante was announced to race under Italian team Prema Powerteam for the 2023 Formula 4 UAE Championship. ^[4] She finished the season in 27th place scoring 3 points across 15 races.

F1 Academy

2023 season

On 3 February 2023, Bustamante was confirmed as the second driver to compete in the newly launched all-female F1 Academy series with Prema Racing. ^[5]

Bustamante with Prema during the inaugural season of F1 Academy

After the inaugural race at Red Bull Ring, Bustamante finished P3, however due to a technical infringement discovered during Parc fermé of Nerea Martí's Campos Racing car, Martí was disqualified from the results pushing Bustamante up to P2. ^[6]

Bustamante's car suffered a technical failure at the start of the formation lap during the third race at Red Bull Ring and could not start. ^[7]

At Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Bustamante initially qualified P2, however, a track limit infringement saw that position move down to P8. ^[8] The reverse grid order of race 2 now meant Bustamante had achieved her first ever pole position which she subsequently turned into her first ever race victory the following day. ^[9] Following the victory, Bustamante was personally congratulated by the president of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ^{[10] [11]}

At the first race of the 5th round of the season, Circuit Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Bustamante was not able to finish due to a racing incident that prompted her to retire the car from the race. She grabbed her third podium of the season the following race after qualifying on pole due to a reverse grid classification. ^[12] On the third race, she clinched her first full points win, her final and second win of the 2023 season.

Bustamante scored a total of 116 points, finishing 7th in the championship standings, just a point behind MP Motorsport's Amna Al Qubaisi. ^[13]

2024 season

On 18 October 2023, McLaren announced the signing of Bustamante to the McLaren Driver Development Programme and that she will represent McLaren (with additional support from Cisco and Google Chrome) for the 2024 season under ART Grand Prix. Bustamante is the first female driver signed to the McLaren Driver Development Programme and the second female driver signed by McLaren after Emma Gilmour for McLaren XE. ^{[14] [15] [16]}

At the first round at Jeddah in Race 1, Bustamante finished the race in fifth to score her first points of the season. ^[17] In Race 2, she finished the race in eighth but was promoted to sixth after race winner Doriane Pin and seventh place finisher Hamda Al Qubaisi were given post-race time penalties. ^{[18] [19]}

Italian F4 Championship

2023 season

On 24 May 2023, it was announced that Bustamante would make her debut in Italian F4 at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, driving for Prema Racing in a one-off appearance, replacing Aurelia Nobels. ^[20]

Personal life

Born in Manila, Bustamante resides between Laguna, Philippines, and San Jose, California. She is the daughter of Raymund and Janice Bustamante. ^[21]

Bustamante has a combined 2.2 million followers across Instagram and TikTok, making her the third most influential female driver in the world according to vehicle rental company Avis. ^{[22] [23]} In December 2023, upon joining McLaren, she received backlash on social media after it emerged that she had liked several tweets critical of Formula One driver Lance Stroll, one of which used ableist language. ^[24]

Racing record

Racing career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2022	USF Juniors	IGY6 Motorsports	4	0	0	0	0	32	25th
	W Series	W Series Academy	7	0	0	0	0	2	15th
	Indian Racing League	Bangalore Speedsters	5	0	0	0	0	46	17th
2023	Formula 4 UAE Championship	Prema Racing	15	0	0	0	0	3	27th
	F1 Academy		21	2	1	0	4	116	7th
	Italian F4 Championship		3	0	0	0	0	0	44th
	USF Juniors	Exclusive Autosport	3	0	0	0	0	27	17th
	Macau Formula 4 Race	BlackArts Racing	2	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
2024	F1 Academy	ART Grand Prix	2	0	0	0	0	18*	4th*
	Formula Winter Series	GRS Team	8	0	0	0	0	0	40th

* Season still in progress.
^† As Bustamante was a guest driver, she was ineligible for points.

Complete W Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	DC	Points
2022	W Series Academy	MIA1 9	MIA2 14	CAT 15	SIL 17	LEC 15	HUN Ret	SIN 15	15th	2

Complete F4 UAE Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Pos	Points
2023	Prema Racing	DUB1 1 26	DUB1 2 28	DUB1 3 Ret	KMT1 1 20	KMT1 2 25	KMT1 3 Ret	KMT2 1 33	KMT2 2 10	KMT2 3 15	DUB2 1 17	DUB2 2 9	DUB2 3 21	YMC 1 Ret	YMC 2 30	YMC 3 Ret	27th	3

Complete F1 Academy results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	DC	Points
2023	Prema Racing	RBR 1 2	RBR 2 9	RBR 3 NC	CRT 1 5	CRT 2 1	CRT 3 7	CAT 1 4	CAT 2 14†	CAT 3 10	ZAN 1 10	ZAN 2 8	ZAN 3 5	MON 1 Ret	MON 2 2	MON 3 1	LEC 1 13	LEC 2 10	LEC 3 14	USA 1 4	USA 2 7	USA 3 13	7th	116
2024	ART Grand Prix	JED 1 5	JED 2 6	MIA 1	MIA 2	CAT 1	CAT 2	ZAN 1	ZAN 2	SIN 1	SIN 2	LSL 1	LSL 2	ABU 1	ABU 2								4th*	18*

Complete Italian F4 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	DC	Points
2023	Prema Racing	IMO 1	IMO 2	IMO 3	IMO 4	MIS 1	MIS 2	MIS 3	SPA 1 25	SPA 2 19	SPA 3 19	MNZ 1	MNZ 2	MNZ 3	LEC 1	LEC 2	LEC 3	MUG 1	MUG 2	MUG 3	VLL 1	VLL 2	VLL 3	44th	0

Complete Formula 4 South East Asia Championship results

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Pos	Points
2023	BlackArts Racing	ZZIC1 1	ZZIC1 2	ZZIC1 3	MAC 1 9	MAC 2 Ret	SEP1 1	SEP1 2	SEP1 3	SEP2 1	SEP2 2	SEP2 3	NC†	0

Complete Formula Winter Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	DC	Points
2024	GRS Team	JER 1 35	JER 2 26	JER 3 30	CRT 1 33	CRT 2 Ret	CRT 3 WD	ARA 1 35	ARA 2 29	ARA 3 17	CAT 1	CAT 2	CAT 3	40th	0

References

1. "W Series' first 2022 test to take place in the USA using F4 cars". Formula Scout. 13 January 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
2. "Belen Garcia tops W Series' Barcelona test, three more drivers confirmed". Formula Scout. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
3. "2022 Driver Line-Up Revealed". W Series. 22 March 2022. Archived from the original on 28 May 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
4. "PREMA, Mumbai Falcons set for 2023 start with full ranks". Prema Team. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
5. "Filipino driver Bianca Bustamante joins F1 Academy with PREMA Racing | Formula 1®". Formula 1 . 3 February 2023. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
6. "Bianca Bustamante gets podium in inaugural all-female race". ABS-CBN . 29 April 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
7. "R01 RED BULL RING - F1 ACADEMY RACE REPORT". Prema Racing . 1 May 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
8. "Round 2 qualifying results amended". F1 Academy . 5 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
9. "Bianca Bustamante claims inaugural F1 Academy win in Race 2 at Valencia". F1 Academy . 6 May 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
10. "F1 Academy driver Bianca Bustamante on life in the fast lane". dw.com. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
11. "Marcos lauds Bianca Bustamante". Manila Times. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
12. "Bianca Bustamante claims second career win in F1 Academy in Monza". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
13. Uson, Melanie (23 October 2023). "Bianca Bustamante finishes first F1 Academy season in 7th place". Philstar Life. Archived from the original on 29 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
14. "McLaren sign F1 Academy's Bustamante as history made". Formula 1 . 18 October 2023. Archived from the original on 9 November 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
15. Medland, Chris (18 October 2023). "Bustamante becomes first female in McLaren driver development program". RACER. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
16. Chrome x F1 Academy 🏁, 8 March 2024, retrieved 9 March 2024
17. "F1 Academy: Mercedes junior Doriane Pin holds off Abbi Pulling to win first race of 2024 season in Saudi Arabia". Sky Sports . 8 March 2024. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
18. "F1 Academy: Doriane Pin wins Race 2 in Saudi Arabia to complete opening round double in all-female series". Sky Sports . 9 March 2024. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
19. "Pin, Al Qubaisi and Lovinfosse penalised following Jeddah Race 2". F1 Academy . 9 March 2024. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
20. "Bianca Bustamante to make Italian F4 debut at Spa". Racers Behind The Helmet. 24 May 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
21. Andaya, Ed (29 August 2022). "Bianca's life in the fast lane". Journal News. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
22. "Who are the most influential female drivers in Europe and worldwide?". Avis Car Rental . Retrieved 12 March 2024.
23. Go, Beatrice (11 November 2023). "McLaren teen racer Bianca Bustamante looking to make motorsport household name in Philippines" . scmp.com. South China Morning Post . Retrieved 27 December 2023.
24. Suttill, Josh (27 December 2023). "McLaren F1 junior apologises for liking anti-Stroll ableist tweet". The Race. Retrieved 27 December 2023.

External links

• Bianca Bustamante career summary at DriverDB.com
• Profile at W Series Archived 22 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine
• Profile at F1 Academy
• Bianca Bustamante personal website