Bianca Bustamante was a competitive driver in the F1 Academy Series, who is currently racing in the GB3 Championship in 2025. She has built up a strong following on social media with millions of followers across different platforms.
She has gained massive support from her fans over the years, however, there was a time when she found herself in hot water. In 2023, when she was a part of the McLaren Driver Development Programme, some suspicious activity was noticed on her Twitter (now X) account. There was a particular post criticizing Formula 1 drivers, one of whom was Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. The post apparently also used ableist language for the driver.
Followers were quick to notice that Bianca Bustamante had liked the post. She received plenty of backlash for this, as many believed that she was supporting ableism.
Soon after, however, Bustamante came out and apologized for liking the post. In another post (now deleted), she claimed that she was scrolling through social media and accidentally liked the post. She further mentioned that she removed the like the moment she realized what had happened. She said (via The Race):
“I truly deeply apologise. I own up to mistakes having liked an inappropriate tweet, I can’t believe all the people whom I have hurt. I was scrolling and accidentally liked the tweet, once I discovered that later on, I immediately unliked it.”
Bustamante further stated,
“As someone who grew up with my only brother having Autism, I completely understand the challenges faced by anyone with Autism. I would never in a million years support Ableism at any level, let alone support an Ableist tweet against a fellow driver,” Bianca Bustamante added.
The 20-year-old driver featured in the latest F1: The Academy show on Netflix, where she talks about learning from her social media mistakes.
Bianca Bustamante revealed how she learned from the mistakes she made on social media
Bustamante’s controversy over the Lance Stroll post on X put her under immense pressure. This could have been a tough moment for her career. McLaren had signed her that year, and it was shortly after her first F1 Academy season. She had secured two wins and finished seventh in the championship.
As she was set to continue with ART Grand Prix the following season, this controversy could have hampered her chances of racing. However, that did not happen. She continued to race and once again finished the 2024 season in seventh place.
Recently featured in the F1: The Academy show on Netflix, Bianca Bustamante revealed that she was young when the controversy happened. Furthermore, she stated that social media helped her fuel her journey in the GB3 Series. She said (via Today):
“We’re still in the (first) 10 percent of our journey. And most of the drivers featured are young adults navigating through life, figuring things out, making mistakes, loving, crying, smiling — going through all these intense emotions and at the same time, kind of having the whole world watching.”
“If I didn’t have my support I had on social media, I wouldn’t have been able to get the funding to race in GB3,” she says. “I don’t think I’d be racing here today, to be honest. So, I could never say that it was a low point or mistake because it’s something I’ve learned from and it’s something that has really fueled my dreams even further.”
Bianca Bustamante parted ways with McLaren at the end of the 2024 season. She then signed with Elite Motorsport to participate in the GB3 Championship.
