Bianca Rödig

Bianca Bustamante is a Filipina racing driver who turned social media savvy into a seat with McLaren’s Driver Development Programme—the first woman to do so—while rewriting history for Asian women in motorsport one TikTok at a time.

EARLY YEARS

Born January 19, 2005, in Laguna, Philippines, Bianca Bustamante grew up in a country with virtually no motorsport history, which makes her trajectory all the more remarkable. Her father had dreams of racing himself but never got the chance—so Bianca became the one to live them. At age three, she got behind the wheel of a go-kart for the first time. “I can really remember my first memory of driving it,” she’s said. “I was probably going about 60 kilometers per hour so for me it was already like so fast and I just fell in love with the speed.” That love never let up. By five, she was competing in local and international karting events, a tiny girl in a helmet carving out a future in a sport that had no roadmap for someone like her.

Her family didn’t take the easy route, either. After relocating to the San Jose, California area, they’d commute to Sonoma Raceway for her karting races—hours in the car, weekends devoted entirely to speed. Racing wasn’t just Bianca’s passion; it was the family mission. “I couldn’t really see myself away from it,” she admitted years later. “I couldn’t see myself doing anything else because I just grew up in that environment where racing was my sole motivator. It was my drive.” That single-mindedness paid off early. At just nine years old, she won the Macau International Kart Grand Prix, the only girl on the podium. “I went for a move in the third-to-last quarter and took the checkered flag… raising the Philippine flag at the podium, and being the only girl in it was like oh damn really, it was the most pivotal point in my career,” she recalled. It was a signal flare to the racing world: this kid was for real.

OTHER INTERESTS

Bianca isn’t all throttle and tire smoke. She’s got ambitions to study engineering or architecture down the line, interests that dovetail neatly with the technical side of racing. She’s also into art and design, and loves to travel—though most of her globe-trotting is tied to race weekends across Europe and beyond. But her real secondary superpower? Social media. With a combined following of 2.4 million across Instagram and TikTok, she’s the third most influential female racing driver on social platforms. She’s not just posting helmet selfies, either—she’s building a brand, funding her career through visibility, and making motorsport accessible to a generation that might never have cared otherwise. In 2024, she was named TikTok PH Sports Creator of the Year. Her response? “Let’s continue celebrating the highs and highlighting the lows one video at a time!! And even add a touch of dancing videos.” She’s grounded, funny, and fully aware that racing isn’t just about what happens on track anymore.

EARLY SUCCESS

Bianca’s karting résumé reads like a highlight reel. She won the Petron Blaze 100 IAME Series Philippines in 2016, then went back-to-back at the JR Asian Karting Open Championship in 2018 and 2019. In 2020, she claimed the AAP National Karting Series title. She also competed in the Asian Karting Open Championship, finishing sixth in Formula 125 Junior Open in 2018 and ninth overall in 2019. By the time she transitioned to single-seaters, she’d already proven she could win—and win consistently.

At 16, she moved to the United States and struggled a bit in the transition. She ran four races in USF Juniors in 2022 with IGY6 Motorsports, finishing 25th with 32 points. But she also entered the W Series that same year and finished as the top rookie, placing 15th overall. It was a pivot year—rough around the edges but full of promise. Enter O’Young, an early sponsor who invited her to a karting event in China and saw something special. He became a mentor, offering advice as she navigated the leap to cars, and she even worked part-time for him in media and PR. That relationship helped steady her as she figured out the next phase of her career.

Then came 2023, and everything clicked. Bianca joined Prema Racing for the F1 Academy and immediately made history. She won Race 2 at Circuit Ricardo Tormo from pole position—earned via a reverse grid after a track limits penalty dropped her to eighth in qualifying—and followed it up with a second victory at Monza, Prema’s home race. She also finished second at the Red Bull Ring in Race 1, promoted from third after Nerea Martí’s disqualification. She became the first Filipina to win an F1 Academy race, cementing her place as a trailblazer. She also made a one-off appearance in Italian F4 at Spa-Francorchamps, replacing Aurelia Nobels, and competed in the Formula 4 UAE Championship with Prema.

In 2024, Bianca switched to ART Grand Prix for F1 Academy, a McLaren-supported team. She snagged another podium with a second-place finish in Race 2 at Miami and ran a one-off in Italian F4 at Monza. And in October 2023, she made headlines again: McLaren signed her to their Driver Development Programme, making her the first woman ever to join. For a girl from Laguna who started karting in a country with no racing infrastructure, it was a hell of a flex.

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• 2014 (approx.): Won Macau International Kart Grand Prix at age 9, only girl on podium.
• 2016: Won Petron Blaze 100 IAME Series Philippines.
• 2018–2019: Back-to-back wins at JR Asian Karting Open Championship.
• 2020: Won AAP National Karting Series.
• 2022: Top rookie in W Series, finished 15th overall.
• 2023: Won two F1 Academy races (Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Monza) with Prema Racing; first Filipina to win in F1 Academy.
• 2023: Signed as first female driver to McLaren Driver Development Programme.
• 2024: Named TikTok PH Sports Creator of the Year; reached 2.4 million combined social media followers, third most influential female racing driver.
• 2024: Finished second in F1 Academy Race 2 at Miami with ART Grand Prix.

INSPIRATIONS

Bianca’s biggest inspiration has always been her father, whose unfulfilled racing dreams became the fuel for her own career. Beyond family, mentor O’Young played a crucial role—spotting her talent early, guiding her transition to single-seaters, and giving her a foothold in the industry through part-time work. She’s also driven by a larger mission: proving that Asian drivers can compete at the highest levels and that women belong in the cockpit, not just the paddock. “I want to show that women can win at the top levels,” she’s said, and she’s living that ethos every time she straps in.

REPUTATION

Bianca is known for being fast, fierce, and disarmingly charming. “Bianca makes you smile in conversations,” one journalist noted. O’Young saw “great talent” in her from the start, and that assessment has been validated by top-tier teams like Prema and ART Grand Prix, plus McLaren’s historic signing. The media loves her—she’s been the face of Forbes and Vogue, introduced motorsport to a whole new Filipino audience, and become a symbol of what’s possible when talent meets tenacity. She’s praised as a trailblazer who’s rewriting the script for women in racing, especially women of color. In an industry where only 1.5% of drivers are female and the sport is often reserved for the wealthy elite, Bianca has fought every odd and made it look almost easy. Her social media presence doesn’t hurt, either—she’s savvy enough to know that visibility equals opportunity, and she’s leveraged that into a career that’s just getting started.

FUTURE GOALS/PLANS

Bianca has been announced for Eurocup-3 with Palou Motorsport for 2025 and beyond, and she’s also listed as competing in GB3 with Elite and Kiro Race Co., though the details are still firming up. Her ultimate goal? Formula 1. She wants to be the first woman of her generation to reach the pinnacle of motorsport—and given her trajectory, it’s hard to bet against her. She’s also got her eye on academia, with plans to study engineering or architecture eventually. But for now, racing is the priority. She spends most of her time in Europe during the season, bouncing between circuits, building her craft, and continuing to disrupt a sport that didn’t make room for her—so she carved out her own space instead. If anyone’s going to make it to F1, it’s the girl who started at three, won at nine, and hasn’t looked back since.

References:

Wikipedia: Bianca Bustamante
Inquirer.net: Bianca Bustamante Feature
McLaren Official: Bianca Bustamante Profile
Goodwood Road & Racing: Bianca Bustamante Interview
YouTube: Bianca Bustamante Career Video
Bianca Bustamante Official Site
ABC7 New York: Bianca Bustamante Interview
Liquipedia: Bianca Bustamante