Bianca Bustamante begins to race for her dreams in F4 in Dubai

MANILA, Philippines – For Bianca Bustamante, life is like racing.

There are times where everything goes by in a blur, and there are times it slows down. Like rolling into a pit stop for a moment’s change in tires, adjusting the aerodynamics, and what not before rolling out again at insane speeds.

On Friday, January 13, the 17-year-old Filipina will be racing in a five-round, 15-race series across race tracks in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait for Italian Formula 4 team Prema.   

Bustamante will join Prema’s three-car team of Englishman Aiden Neate and South Korean Michael Shin. 

Bianca is coming off a terrific 2022 season in the W Series where she finished ninth in her debut in addition to doing two rounds in the Indian Racing League.

“It happened all so quickly; it was a blur actually,” related Bianca. “This happened in December of 2022, and there was this opportunity to test for Prema, this great development Italian racing team that won in the UAE last year.”

“Pinch me… I am dreaming!” she gushed. “I will be driving a Formula 4 car!”

“It is difficult to get a seat on this team. So last December, we did a test in Barcelona for my work ethic, pace, attitude, and potential. I did reasonably well apparently. So they offered me to drive in F4 in the UAE.”

That was like hitting the jackpot as this young Filipina is on the road to her dreams.

At one point, she thought her racing dreams were over. 

“When the pandemic hit and everything stopped, I thought that I was done. But in 2021, opportunities opened up and we took it. Now, here we are.”

Here… is a field of 40 up-and-coming as well as veteran drivers hoping to move up to move up another rung in the pinnacle of motorsports.

“This race is five weekends straight. That is a lot of racing.  At one point in the tests, I was in P-19 out of 40 drivers — mixed with five females in a sea of male drivers,” she clarified.

It is a daunting task and for Bustamante, she has to double time on a lot of things.

“I have never done an F4 season so there is so much to learn about the car, my team, and the track. It requires different techniques and a driving style. This is purely because I didn’t do too many driving tests before I joined Prema.”

While Bustamante tends to be very confident on track, off-track, she is the complete opposite.

“What I love about racing is it brings out another side of me — courageous and fiery,” Bianca related. “I am very quiet off track. I love studying and reading books. If I weren’t racing, I would be taking up architecture at UST (she went to school at the Dominican school).”

“I have been in this sport for 13 years and even at a young age, I have to learn how to balance all the responsibilities and ethics of racing with handling media and people while not forgetting studying and I am a teenage girl. I have had to learn how to handle defeat and pressure. So I would say that racing has changed my life.”

And now this weekend, she can take her life, her dreams, to a whole new level.

“Every race is a magical moment,” she summed up. “Racing is generally reserved for those well-financed. We’re not. So I value every opportunity and take it seriously. I try to maximize everything. And I hope to do so this weekend.”