Bianca Bustamante inks full season with F1 Academy
MANILA, Philippines — Filipina racer Bianca Bustamante inched that much closer to her dream of racing in F1 as she signed a full season with the F1 Academy program.
On Friday, Bustamante announced that she, with her Italian team PREMA, have inked a full-season contract in the Formula 4 program in the F1 Academy.
The F1 Academy is a much anticipated all-female racing championship set to have its inaugural season this year. It is aimed to develop the newest generation of female racing talent and groom them to succeed in the steps of the Formula 1 ladder, namely F3 and F2.
It is set to provide all-around development for aspiring female drivers like the 18-year-old Filipina.
Bustamante is already racing with PREMA in the Formula 4 UAE Championship where she recently scored her first championship point with a P10 finish in one of the races in Kuwait earlier this week.
Of note that PREMA has produced a number of alumni that have found themselves into F1, including Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, Alpine's Pierre Gasly, second generation star Mick Schumacher, and Alfa Romeo's Guan-Yu Zhou.
"I am so excited to be racing in the F1 Academy with PREMA in 2023. The team is incredible and I have already learned so much in the short period of time I have been with the team at the F4 UAE Championship," said Bustamante.
"The F1 Academy is an amazing initiative for rising female talent in motorsports and I am looking forward to seeing what I can achieve with PREMA," she added.
Bustamante's push for F1 with PREMA has been supported by Lance East Office, the family office of Laurence Escalante, a successful gaming and tech entrepreneur.
PREMA Team Principal Rene Rosin also expressed the team's excitement in continuing to work with Bustamante.
"We are happy to announce Bianca for our new F1 Academy programme. We enjoy working together in the F4 UAE Championship and we feel there is great potential we can build on for the future," Rosin said.
"I think she will be an outstanding fit right from the start, especially considering what she was able to achieve in her first experiences, and we are determined to provide her with our best support."
The maiden F1 Academy season is set to feature seven events — likely to include one F1 weekend — comprising of three reaces each for a total of 21 races for the year along with 15 days of official testing.
Last year, Bustamante raced a full year with the W Series Academy Team in W Series.
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