Bianca Bustamante
Bianca Denise Bustamante is a Filipina racing driver who will compete in Eurocup-3 for Palou Motorsport. She has previously competed in GB3 Championship, F1 Academy and W Series. She has also participated in Formula E test sessions for McLaren and Cupra Kiro.
Junior career
W Series
From January 31 to February 4, 2022, Bustamante competed in a W Series test in Arizona, United States, along with 14 other prospective drivers. She then participated in a second pre-season test in Barcelona on March 2–4 along with 11 other potential drivers and 9 automatic qualifiers from the previous W Series season. On March 22, Bustamante was confirmed to compete in the 2022 W Series season. She finished the season in 15th place scoring two points across seven races.Formula 4 UAE Championship
On January 9, 2023, Bustamante was announced to race under Italian team Prema Powerteam for the 2023 Formula 4 UAE Championship. She finished the season in 27th place scoring three points across fifteen races.F1 Academy
2023 season
On February 3, 2023, Bustamante was confirmed as the second driver to compete in the newly launched all-female F1 Academy series with Prema Racing.Bustamante finished third in the series' first race at the Red Bull Ring, but was promoted to second following the disqualification of Nerea Martí. Having finished ninth in the second race, her car suffered a technical failure on the formation lap for the third race and did not start.
Bustamante initially qualified second for the second round at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, but was demoted to 8th for a track limits infringement. Having recovered to fifth in the first race, Bustamante then won her first race in the reverse-grid second heat – earning personal congratulations from President of the Philippines Bongbong Marcos.
Bustamante did not finish the first race of the weekend at Monza, before grabbing her third podium of the season in the following reverse-grid race and winning the third and final race of the weekend.
Bustamante scored a total of 116 points, finishing seventh in the championship standings; one point behind MP Motorsport's Amna Al Qubaisi.
2024 season
On October 18, 2023, McLaren announced the signing of Bustamante to the McLaren Driver Development Programme, representing McLaren for the 2024 season under ART Grand Prix. Bustamante was the first female driver signed to the McLaren Driver Development Programme.In Round 1 at Jeddah, Bustamante finished fifth in Race 1 and was promoted to sixth in Race 2 due to penalties for other competitors. Bustamante qualified in fourth for the second round at Miami and finished the first race in ninth after stalling at the start, but set the fastest lap in consolation; in Race 2, she scored her first podium of the season with a second-place finish. In Round 4 at Zandvoort, Bustamante crashed during qualifying and finished outside the points in both races – a pointless streak which continued in Singapore after she received a stop/go penalty in Race 1 for being out of position on the grid, before colliding with Tina Hausmann in Race 2 whilst recovering from a spin.
Bustamante finished the season in seventh in the driver's championship and left the McLaren Driver Development Programme at the conclusion of her F1 Academy campaign.
Italian F4 Championship
On May 24, 2023, it was announced that Bustamante would make her Italian F4 debut in the [2023 Italian F4 Championship|Italian F4 Championship|2023 season] at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, driving for Prema Racing in a one-off appearance replacing Aurelia Nobels. Bustamante returned in the 2024 season for the final round in Monza, driving for ART Grand Prix.GB3 Championship
On December 19, 2024, it was announced that Bustamante will join GB3 Championship in the 2025 season with Elite Motorsport. She finished the season in 22nd position in the drivers' championship.Eurocup-3
In January 2026, it was announced that Bustamante will compete in the 2026 season of Eurocup-3 with Palou Motorsport.Formula E
On October 15, 2024, McLaren announced Bustamante and her F1 Academy successor Ella Lloyd as the line-up for the McLaren Formula E Team women's pre-season test for the 2024–25 season in Formula E. She placed in third in the test. From June to August 2025, Bustamante was signed by Cupra Kiro as a development driver. She participated in the 2024–25 season rookie test for the team, finishing in 19th and 22nd in the morning and afternoon sessions, respectively, being more than 1.5 seconds behind the leaders. She was again announced as Cupra Kiro's driver for the 2025–26 season pre-season women's test, where she finished in sixth and third in the morning and afternoon sessions, respectively.Personal life
Born in Manila, Bustamante resides between Laguna, Philippines, and San Jose, California. Former GT racer Darryl O'Young acts as Bustamante's manager.In December 2023, Bustamante 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.
In March 2024, vehicle rental company Avis ranked Bustamante the third-most influential non-European female racing driver; at the time, she had a combined 2.2 million followers across Instagram and TikTok.
Racing record
Racing career summary
† As Bustamante was a guest driver, she was ineligible for points.American open-wheel racing results
USF Juniors
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | DC | Points |
| 2022 | IGY6 Motorsports | OIR 1 14 | OIR 2 10 | OIR 3 C | ALA 1 15 | ALA 2 12 | VIR 1 | VIR 2 | VIR 3 | MOH 1 | MOH 2 | MOH 3 | ROA 1 | ROA 2 | ROA 3 | COA 1 | COA 2 | COA 3 | 25th | 32 |
| 2023 | Exclusive Autosport | SEB 1 | SEB 2 | SEB 3 | ALA 1 | ALA 2 | VIR 1 | VIR 2 | VIR 3 | MOH 1 | MOH 2 | ROA 1 | ROA 2 | ROA 3 | COA 1 9 | COA 2 18 | COA 3 9 | 17th | 27 |
Complete W Series results
| 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 Indian Racing League results
| Year | Franchise | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos. | Pts |
| 2022 | Bangalore Speedsters | HYD1 1 C | HYD1 2 C | HYD1 3 C | IRU1 1 | IRU1 2 5 | IRU1 3 6 | IRU2 1 | IRU2 2 8 | IRU2 3 6 | HYD2 1 | HYD2 2 DNS | HYD2 3 Ret | 17th | 46 |
Complete Formula 4 UAE Championship results
| 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 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
| 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 |
Complete F4 British Championship results
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | DC | Points |
| 2024 | Hitech Pulse-Eight | DPN 1 | DPN 2 | DPN 3 | BHI 1 | BHI 2 | BHI 3 | SNE 1 | SNE 2 | SNE 3 | THR 1 | THR 2 | THR 3 | SILGP 1 | SILGP 2 | SILGP 3 | ZAN 1 18 | ZAN 2 17 | ZAN 3 8 | KNO 1 | KNO 2 | KNO 3 | DPGP 1 | DPGP 2 | DPGP 3 | DPGP 4 | SILN 1 | SILN 2 | SILN 3 | BHGP 1 | BHGP 2 | BHGP 3 | BHGP 4 | 29th | 6 |
Complete Euro 4 Championship results
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | DC | Points |
| 2024 | ART Grand Prix | MUG 1 | MUG 2 | MUG 3 | RBR 1 | RBR 2 | RBR 3 | MNZ 1 18 | MNZ 2 24 | MNZ 3 28 | 34th | 0 |
Complete GB3 Championship results
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | DC | Points |
| 2025 | Elite Motorsport | SIL1 1 DNS | SIL1 2 20 | SIL1 3 192 | ZAN 1 17 | ZAN 2 19 | ZAN 3 133 | SPA 1 20 | SPA 2 20 | SPA 3 Ret | HUN 1 14 | HUN 2 13 | HUN 3 132 | SIL2 1 15 | SIL2 2 17 | SIL2 3 182 | BRH 1 Ret | BRH 2 19 | BRH 3 192 | DON 1 18 | DON 2 18 | DON 3 143 | MNZ 1 17 | MNZ 2 14 | MNZ 3 22 | 22nd | 75 |