F1 Academy: Bianca Bustamante gets first career win in Valencia

Rising motorsport star Bianca Bustamante made history as she became the first Filipino to win an F1 Academy race in Valencia, Spain, Saturday evening (Philippine time).

The 18-year-old led from lights to flag for her first career win in the second race of Round 2 of F1 Academy in Circuit Ricardo Tormo.

 

 

 

 

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After qualifying P2 for the first race, Bustamante was demoted to P8, along with several others who received demotions, after setting a track limit violation that had their lap times deleted. As per the format, the second race would have a reverse pole grid from P8, with Bustamante starting in pole.

From there on, Bustamante never looked back for 11 laps and held a 0.7-second gap from her closest competitor. Her win was Prema Racing's third in two rounds. She and her team got 10 points in the driver's and team's championships.

Bustamante now sits fifth in the inaugural season of the F1 Academy driver's championship after her win.

Earlier in the first race, Bustamante charged to P5 after starting from P8, ahead of her Prema teammates Marta Garcia and Chloe Chong.

She will start P5 in the third race on Sunday, as the drivers and teams look to secure more points for the championship.

Before her F1 Academy stint, Bustamante competed in the Formula 4 UAE Championship earlier this year. She also competed in the WSeries last year, finishing as the top-scoring rookie in 15th place.

Bustamante also qualified for the FiA Girls on Track Rising Stars program in 2021, where she had a shot for a scholarship in the Ferrari Driver Academy.

The F1 Academy is a new all-women racing series, which aims to develop and prepare female drivers to advance to higher levels of competition. Their 2023 season will have seven rounds with three races each, with the next round on May 19-21 in Barcelona.

—Ardelle Costuna/JMB, GMA Integrated News