McLaren, Bustamante flourish, rank 4th in F1 Academy championship

MANILA, Philippines — Bianca Bustamante scored points for McLaren in both races during opening hostilities of the 2024 F1 Academy season in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia this weekend.

Bustamante, 19, ended up with 18 points after two days to place herself firmly in the race for the driver’s championship, taking up P4 in the driver’s standings.

In her season debut, the Filipina driver bucked a puncture in Race 1 to cross the line P6 in the maiden race of the year before post-race penalties bumped her up to P5 for a solid 10-point haul.

She then followed it up on Saturday when she ended up P6, again after race penalties, for eight more points in her haul.

Bustamante got enough pace in Race 2 to fight her way from qualifying P10 on the grid, crossing the line P8. But a handful of penalties — most notably to erstwhile race winner Doriane Pin — shuffled the Top 10 and landed the Filipina on eighth.

Pin, backed by Mercedes, took the checkered flag twice in the race, unaware that the race was already done. She was given a stinging 20-second penalty, which snowballed her down to P9 for Race 2.

Pin won Race 1 for full points. She’s third in the driver’s standings with 32 points.

Alpine’s Abbi Pulling currently leads the pack with a P2 and win in Race 1 and 2, respectively, with 44 points. Ferrari’s Maya Weug comes in second with 33 markers.

Bustamante hopes to gain ground on her competitors when she competes again in Miami on May 3-5.