I catch Bianca Bustamante between travel days, on a rare morning spent at home in Manila. She touched down three days ago, but the half-packed suitcase between us already alludes to her next adventure.
“It’s been one of the craziest weeks of my life,” she tells me, folding her fireproofs neatly into her luggage. “As soon as I got off the track in Austin, I was on a plane for the Philippines — race sweat, messy hair, everything. I leave for Sydney tomorrow.”
Not many 18-year-olds spend their weekends juggling cross-continental training sessions with practice laps hitting 260 kilometers per hour. But for Bustamante, it’s all part of the job.
She’s a professional racing driver. And she’s one of the best in the world.
Bustamante (or Bia, as she’s affectionately known) was one of 15 drivers on this year’s inaugural F1 Academy grid. An all-female junior league partnered with Formula 1, F1 Academy is designed to help young women racers rise through the feeder formulas for a chance to reach the coveted F1 — a stage that only two female racers have ever seen.
Having made her single-seater racing debut just last year, Bustamante’s four podium finishes and two race wins have already cemented her as a rookie to watch. But to many, her success is much more than a trophy or a checkered flag.
Bustamante’s inaugural victory in Valencia this May made her the first Filipina winner of any race sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, the governing body of world motorsport. And in an arena where Asian faces — especially Asian female faces — have rarely ever been celebrated, her teary-eyed podium quickly became one for the masses.
“We are filled with pride upon hearing the Philippine national anthem played on the F1 stage for the very first time,” Philippine President Bongbong Marcos tweeted to Bustamante after her win. “Continue to break barriers and inspire young women around the…
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