McLaren junior Bianca Bustamante may be one of F1 Academy’s most talented drivers but has been through her fair share of controversy. Her social media activity on posts mocking Lance Stroll‘s performances in 2023 did not sit well with the F1 community, and she is in hot waters once again, because of her recent claims regarding her upbringing.
Bustamante told The Beat Manila in 2023, that she hails from a middle-class family in the Philippines. This made her proud, as she felt that she broke the stereotype of racers coming out, only from richer families. Social media, however, didn’t waste time in finding out that Bustamante is in fact, privileged.
It was pointed out that Bustamante went to Southville International School back home, which is an institution where the richer kids go. Currently, she is enrolled at the University of Santo Tomas in the STEM department, which is one of the top private universities in the Philippines.
Homeless? She literally started her career with kart racing in the USA in 2015 at the age of 10. Her dad may have had to work 3 jobs before she started getting big sponsors but she wasn’t homeless at all. She even said she came from a middle-class family here in the PH.
— sᴉɹnſ (@Orbiting_44) May 31, 2024
Bustamante also posted a video on her TikTok account with the caption, “Take it from a girl who pursued her F1 dreams and turned it into a reality when she was homeless at 16…”
girlie needs to make up her mind, did she move away from home at 16 or was she homeless at 16 pic.twitter.com/gkKVeYlNqT
— em⁴ (@landosfilm) May 31, 2024
However, the Filipino has a residence in Laguna and San Jose, California. The fact that she referred to herself as homeless despite having two big family residences she keeps traveling between, got her on the receiving end of a lot of backlash.
her family has property in laguna and california, that she hops to and from. she went to SOUTHVILLE and goes to ust. she is NOT middle class in the Philippines. its so hard to support her PLEASE i just want filo rep that isnt shitty https://t.co/MECgdIqtFl
— mari ³ (@tauromarz) May 31, 2024
Bustamante, till now, has not responded to these allegations. By doing so, she could justify her comments and tell fans if her comments were misinterpreted.
Could Bianca Bustamante’s comments be taken out of context?
Bianca Bustamante revealed she was homeless at 16. While at first glance, this may seem like she didn’t have a “home” to stay in, what the McLaren driver could be hinting at was the fact that she was away from her home country, the Philippines.
Getting into motorsports is difficult, and Bustamante’s dad had to work three jobs to support his daughter’s dream of racing. She moved to Europe at a young age and worked her way up the ladder through karting, and junior single-seater series.
Currently 19, she is driving for ART Grand Prix and is competing in F1 Academy. At the time of writing, she is fifth in the standings, and has one podium finish to his name. While all fans would love to see Bustamante succeed in the female racing series and move up the motorsport ladder, her comments about being homeless need further context from her end.
Having previously faced backlash, the Filipino driver would want to clarify this confusion over her statement as soon as possible.
