Bianca Bustamante
Bianca Bustamante recently made history by becoming the first-ever Filipino to win an F1 Academy race
Prema Racing’s wonderkid Bianca Bustamante has been in the spotlight after becoming the first-ever Filipino racer to win an F1 Academy race last week. Bustamante joined the Prema Racing team earlier this year as a part of their three-car line-up for the inaugural F1 Academy season. The 18-year-old is currently representing Prema Racing in the feeder series F1 Academy and registered the first win of her career at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain.
Bustamante made her professional racing debut at the W series in 2022. After successfully participating in two pre-season tests, she was officially roped in to compete in the 2022 W Series season. After a season-long tenure in the W series, Bustamante joined the Formula 4 UAE Championship, representing Italy-based outfit ‘Prema Powerteam’. However, her stay in F4 was brief as she soon moved to the F1 Academy and was confirmed as the second driver to compete in the newly launched all-female F1 Academy series, with Prema Racing.
Bustamante is one of the most highly rated female racing drivers in the junior circuit. She took the biggest step of her career earlier this year by joining the Prema Racing team for the inaugural F1 Academy season. After her move was officially confirmed, the teenager spoke about her ambitions of racing in F1.
“PREMA is one of the most prestigious racing organisations in the world, and I’m incredibly grateful to join their family of drivers. Thank you PREMA for bringing me into the programme, and Formula 1 for launching this series to support young female drivers. Most importantly, thanks to Laurence Escalante for believing in me and supporting my journey, getting me one step closer to my F1 dreams”, said the elated Filipino. She has now gone on to win the first F1 Academy race of her career and it certainly shows that she is ever so close to fulfilling her dreams.
Bustamante claimed the first win of the F1 Academy season in the second race of Round. She made a commendable jump of four places, having earlier finished fifth in Race one. The Filipino led from start to finish in the 11-lap race. It was her best finish since securing second place in Race 1 of the opening round less than two weeks ago in Austria. The win powered Bustamante to fifth place in the Drivers’ Championship standings with 38 points.
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