Bianca Bustamante
Bustamante driving the Tatuus F4-T421 at the 2023 inaugural F1 Academy race at Red Bull Ring.
NationalityPhilippines Filipina
Born (2005-01-19) 19 January 2005
Manila, Philippines
F1 Academy career
Debut season2023
Current teamPrema Racing
Car number16
Starts21 (21 entries)
Wins2
Podiums4
Poles1
Fastest laps0
Best finish7th in 2023
Previous series
2022W Series

Bianca Bustamante (born 19 January 2005) is a Filipina racing driver. She most recently competed for Prema Racing in the feeder series F1 Academy and 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]

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.[10] 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.[11]

2024 season

On 18 October 2023, McLaren announced the signing of Bustamante to the McLaren Driver Development Programme and that she would represent McLaren for the 2024 season under ART Grand Prix.[12] Bustamante is the first female driver signed to the McLaren Driver Development Programme[13] and the second female driver after Emma Gilmour signed by McLaren.

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.[14]

Personal life

Born in Manila, Bustamante resides between Laguna, Philippines, and San Jose, California. She is the daughter of Raymund and Janice Bustamante.[15]

Bustamante has a combined 2.2 million followers across Instagram and TikTok, making her the third most influential female driver in the world.[16] In December 2023, upon joining McLaren, she received backlash on social media after it emerged that she had liked several hurtful tweets aimed at Formula One driver Lance Stroll, one of which used ableist language.[17]

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

* 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
 JED
2
 JED
3
 MIA
1
 MIA
2
 MIA
3
 CAT
1
 CAT
2
 CAT
3
 ZAN
1		 ZAN
2		 ZAN
3		 SIN
1		 SIN
2		 SIN
3		 LSL
1		 LSL
2 		LSL
3		 ABU
1		 ABU
2		 ABU
3		 * *

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

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. ↑ "Bianca Bustamante claims second career win in F1 Academy in Monza". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ "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.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ "Bianca Bustamante to make Italian F4 debut at Spa". Racers Behind The Helmet. 24 May 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  15. ↑ Andaya, Ed (29 August 2022). "Bianca's life in the fast lane". Journal News. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  16. ↑ 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.
  17. ↑ Suttill, Josh (27 December 2023). "McLaren F1 junior apologises for liking anti-Stroll ableist tweet". The Race. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
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