F1 Academy driver Bianca Bustamante is caught in a huge storm after her allegedly controversial activity on social media. Bustamante had liked some tweets on X (formerly Twitter) that dissed Lance Stroll. This caught fans’ attention and another user posted a tweet labeling the 18-year-old as ‘overrated‘. Bustamante, who is now part of McLaren’s driver development programme, is facing a lot of backlash online as a result. Thus, with all the fan protests, the question arises whether she may lose her McLaren F1 opportunity. Juri Vips is one such driver who lost his opportunity with Red Bull after he created a stir by using racial slurs on his Twitch streams. Hence, Bustamante will need to be careful after her recent activity involving Stroll.
After several users took notice of Bustamante’s liking of those posts that demeaned Stroll, she put out an apology too. She stated in her apology tweet, “I truly deeply apologize. I own up to my mistakes having liked an inappropriate tweet, I can’t believe all the people whom I have hurt. I was scrolling and I accidentally liked the tweet. Once I discovered that later on, I immediately unliked it.”
Bustamante clarified her stance that she doesn’t support ableism or has any views against autism. For the unaware, autism is a neurological disorder that can cause significant difficulties in communication and behavioral aspects for a person. Meanwhile, ableism is discrimination against the differently-abled people.
The F1 Academy driver cited that her brother also suffered from autism, thus she is deeply apologetic if her social media activity inadvertently hurt anybody. However, fans are still dissatisfied with Bustamante’s apology. Many are speculating whether she may lose her status as a McLaren Academy driver or even her F1 Academy drive.
Is there a precedent for Bianca Bustamante to lose her McLaren academy status?
In the past too, young drivers have been punished strictly for their controversial statements or social media activity. Juri Vips is one major case in point from the F1 world. The Estonian driver once used some racial slurs on his Twitch stream that triggered a lot of backlash. Following this, Red Bull suspended him from their academy program.
Similarly, in NASCAR, Noah Gragson had liked some racially insensitive tweets that caused an uproar across the Atlantic. The Legacy Motor Club and NASCAR suspended him immediately for the same. So, there are precedents for drivers getting suspended for saying anything involving racism, autism, or ableism.
The motorsport world often sees drivers getting sponsorships and many deem some drivers as ‘paid drivers’. However, when the governing stakeholders are looking to eradicate such tendencies, they expect drivers to not say anything controversial about such aspects.
The entire F1 fandom knows that Lance Stroll has received a lot of support from his father Lawrence Stroll. The Canadian businessman invested about $79 million in his son’s career to propel him into F1. However, Stroll has decent talent and skill too, to survive in the sport.
Meanwhile, fans expect women drivers like Bustamante to make their way in the sport and beat stereotypes. Such social media activity or any statements like Vips will always be viewed negatively in the modern world. Regardless, many fans are still discussing online about the repercussions of Bustamante’s actions.
Fans react and discuss whether Bustamante may face dire consequences
It is quite crazy to see some liked tweets have erupted into utter chaos for Bianca Bustamante in the online community. Many fans like Rue are stating how several TikTok creators are justifying the hate against Bustamante because she is female. All in all, it has opened a lot of ugly cans of worms.
F1 and McLaren are yet to comment on any of this saga. Though one would expect that they may make a rational decision, given F1 Academy is crucial for women racers’ development.
So Bustamante may be reprimanded, but still they may want to uphold the bigger picture of diversity in motorsport.
With so many tricky aspects in contention, F1 officials may also want to look at the possibility of a suspension backfiring against Bustamante. Many female motorsport supporters may not want to see a women racer getting suspended since her rise to fame is inspiring young girls to take up racing as a career.
