CONSISTENCY continues for McLaren’s Bianca Bustamante as she took another points finish in Race 1, Round 3 of the 2024 F1 Academy season in Barcelona, Saturday.
Bustamante, who has scored in every race of the season so far, just fell shy of the podium as she took P4 in the weekend's opening race.
She built confidence ahead of the incident-filled race after she matched pole-sitter and eventual winner Abbi Pulling’s time in Free Practice before qualifying.
Unfortunately, Bustamante couldn’t sustain her speed as she ended up fourth in the shootout for pole position.
Still, the Filipina driver managed to capitalize on some mishaps involving Mercedes driver Doriane Pin that sent her tumbling down the order.
Pulling fended off two drivers from Campos Racing as hometown hero Nerea Marti crossed the line second with teammate Chloe Chambers rounding out the top three.
With her 12-point haul in Race 1, Bustamante is P6 in the driver’s championship with 51 points. Pulling remains the runaway leader with 127 points, while Pin sits at second with 71.
Currently, Bustamante, Marti, and Martha Weug are tied at 51 points, with Chambers at P3 only sightly ahead with 55.
The Philippines' motorsport star hopes to continue her scoring run and hopefully bump herself up a few places in the driver’s standings in Race 2 on Sunday.
READ: Bianca Bustamante posts first podium finish in F1 Academy
Bustamante is still seeking her first win of the season. Previously, she got herself on the podium in Race 2 in Miami with a P2 finish.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
