Bianca Bustamante Has Been Racing Against Boys Since She Was Six. Now She’s 19—And Out to Make History in Formula 1 (2024)

Bianca Bustamante has spent most of her young lifetime preparing for the moment she’s currently speeding through. Growing up in the Philippines, she first did laps in a go-kart at the age of three, and since the age of five has been racing and competing—for the past two years as a McLaren driver in the F1 Academy, a women-only racing series created to increase access and opportunity in a sport where both those things have traditionally been in short supply. (Just announced: Reese Witherspoon's production company, Hello Sunshine, will be producing a docuseries centered on the F1 Academy and its drivers—something akin to Netflix's wildly popular Drive To Survive series.) Now 19, Bustamante is living her dream of chasing down victories and podium finishes at 220 miles an hour—and in her spare time, shooting content for her millions of followers on Instagram and TikTok and, most recently, unpacking boxes after relocating to near the McLaren Technology Centre in Surrey, England just a few weeks ago. This weekend, she’ll be racing in Miami in the second of the F1 Academy’s series of seven races on three continents (watch it live on ESPN and ESPN+).

Vogue: What was the hardest part early on: the racing itself, or competing in a world of boys—or was it something else?

Bianca Bustamante: The hardest thing ever is actually just starting something big like this. It was such a massive leap of faith. It might sound so cliché, but for me this wasn't a hobby, or something that I just enjoyed doing—I was dedicated. At the age of six, I knew what I wanted to be—this was the only path I wanted to take in life, and I gave up everything else.

That's crazy. You knew all that so soon—the feeling it gave you, how much you loved it?

I did. I just told my parents: "I want to dedicate all of my time and effort to this, because I know I can make it." Being a Filipina in this world was already quite a disadvantage, because we're so far away from the motorsport world—from Europe and America. But I told my parents that I wanted to be homeschooled, I wanted to manage my own time and my own studies—to manage, basically, everything—and they let me.

It was a leap of faith for them as well as for me, because I was signing my whole life away to racing. My parents made so many sacrifices and supported me in every way possible. My mom had to learn the whole language of racing, and my dad was both my mechanic and my coach. It's been a journey since then.

And were you racing mostly against boys at these early races?

100%. I was always the only girl—in Asia particularly, because of the culture. There's a big lack of representation for women in sport in Asia—especially in motorsport—so everything was a battle. To get on the track was a battle, to afford to race was a battle—and that’s all before you get to the actual racing, which is another battle. But I saw a certain beauty early on in the fact that I got to be as feminine as I could be and still be as fast as I could be on track—and that my being a girl racing against boys would never affect my performance or who I am. When you're on track and you have that helmet on, nothing really divides you—man or woman, male or female didn’t matter: I saw them as competitors, and I hope that they saw the same in me.

I've spoken to some other professional women drivers, and a lot of them had some significant, well, challenges—confrontations or fistfights would be other words to describe this—with men or boys, especially at an earlier age…

It’s human nature, isn't it? For a long time, racing really was a man's world, or a boy’s club, and to see a woman come into it—and to see her go fast, and sometimes beat them—I think it's very common to be protective, and I could never really blame them for it. Obviously, when things got heated, they would say some harsh things that they probably didn’t mean, but we've seen that happen in any sport—and sometimes you hear the meanest things far away from the track. I've had people telling me to dream less—that maybe that way I'll achieve something in life. That was a very common Filipino mentality: Why choose a dangerous path when you could play it safe and have a good future? But it's up to you to either take what they’re saying to heart, or to use that as motivation—and I chose the latter.

What’s your training like—both in the car and in the gym?

The training is quite particular: You actually have to start driving at a certain age so that your body develops along the way so it’s able to withstand the kind of g-force stresses you experience when you’re braking hard from 220 miles an hour and cornering and accelerating. When I'm working out, I'm training muscles that people don't normally use—certain accessory muscles in your neck, for example. We need to keep our core very strong and to be able to hold ourselves in the car and just brace ourselves for it. It's like going on roller coasters. There’s a lot of weightlifting, and I've had to gain a lot of muscle weight—I was about 100 pounds before I started driving Formula cars, and now I'm 120.

At the same time, you need to be able to drive efficiently, to 100%, every single lap and not let mental fatigue—or anything—distract you. I think the mental training is my favorite part, but it's also very much emotional: It's very hard to respond to things rather than react to them, and that's something that's constantly being taught to us: to always be unattached to scenarios or situations, and to have the mental tenacity to not let anything anger you or frustrate you, to keep your eyes focused on what matters: driving as fast as you can, and being in first place.

I think that one of the best things about racing is that everyone is a mentor, but if I could think specifically on one—not that I've met him in person—but I would definitely say [legendary F1 champion for Ferrari and McLaren from the 1970s and 80s] Niki Lauda. He's my hero, the epitome of a champion. In my head, he taught me discipline, and how to value hard work, and how to always be able to extract the most out of any situation. He could have the fastest or the slowest car and still, somehow, be able to perform well. That's what it takes to be a champion, and the fact that I’m racing for McLaren now—it’s like, “Wait—what?!”

Did you drive your parents nuts? Were you that kid on vacation with your parents and they wanted you to come to the pool, or the beach, and you wanted to stay inside and watch old Formula 1 races?

No. All the Christmas gifts, all the vacations—I didn't have any of that. I exchanged all of that for racing.

Wow.

I missed out on quite a lot growing up. I didn't get to experience a normal high school life—I never went to prom, and I'm really sorry about that, actually. I always watched all the rom-coms, imagining what prom would be like. As a young kid, I was very disciplined—I never asked for anything apart from new tires, or an extra day of driving.

Does your racing instinct or your competitive instinct affect your life away from the track—do you have to win, have to be faster, better, stronger, all that, in everything?

That's the thing: I wish I wasn't as competitive as I am, because I just ruin the fun every time. Everyone is out having fun at the arcade—I'm trying to beat all the high scores. I’ll compete over anything: chess, checkers, axe-throwing, darts. I just always want to go forward, to do better, learn more, do it again. It's that hunger—you either have it in you or you don't.

Does this extend to you driving a regular car on regular roads, like the rest of us? Do you have a bin full of speeding tickets?

Actually, I can't even drive in the UK—I don't have my license.

Do you have things that you're interested in away from racing—aside from chess and axe-throwing and all that—or is it all racing all the time?

I'm studying architecture right now, and I just love creating in general: I draw—I started drawing floor plans at the age of eight, fun fact! I sketch a lot. I do a lot of portraits—it’s an amazing escape. It's beautiful. I’ve gotten into photography, too, and lately I’ve been taking a lot of photos.

Do you watch Drive To Survive?

I love it! It's brought so many more fans—a lot of them female—to motorsport. All of a sudden, F1 has gotten a lot more relatable, and that’s so hard to do, because racing is not the most relatable sport in the world, either to watch or to race—it’s often been reserved for people with money. My country is certainly not known for motorsport, and Drive To Survive broke boundaries and crossed bridges, and now you've got people from all over the world following F1.

Is there one burning ambition or goal that you've had—whether it's something from when you were six or something from right now?

I'm not going to lie: Signing with McLaren, and representing the team, and being part of the family—I'm always in tears just talking about it. I try to enjoy every single moment I have on the track, and the fact that I get to wear these colors and to raise my country’s flag—The Philippines, this small country in this other part of the world! I get to represent people that don't have the opportunities I’ve had, and I get to open doors. It's always about passing the torch a little bit brighter to the next generation, and I get to be a part of that. That’s something I never take for granted, because next year, you never know.

As for the future: Yes, I want to race in Formula One—that's my end goal. But I’m just trying to go as far as I can—who knows what could happen?