MCLAREN racing driver Bianca Bustamante called her scoreless outing in Zandvoort, Netherlands a “big disappointment” as her points finish streak ended in Round 4 of the 2024 F1 Academy season over the weekend.
Bustamante, 19, had previously scored in every race this season with McLaren but suffered a crash during qualifying that doomed her before the lights even went out in Races 1 and 2.
“Breaks my heart to put it in writing and post [right now], but leaving Zandvoort without points is a big disappointment.” Bustamante wrote on Instagram on Monday.
“Many unlucky things happened this weekend, purely out of our control which is a tough one to swallow.”
The Filipina driver came out of the summer break looking good as she finished P3 in Free Practice 1 early in the weekend. But an unfortunate crash in qualifying had her lagging behind the grid. Bustamante was actually scheduled to miss Race 1 because of damage to her chassis.
But weather delay helped Bustamante get her car fixed in time to race but starting at P14, she couldn’t make too much of a difference as she finished at the same position at the checkered flag.
In Race 2, Bustamante finished just out of the points as she ended up P11. But it was an improvement for the weekend as she classified P15 in qualification, making up four places in the race.
Still a long way to go this season, Bustamante shifts her focus to the next race weekend: the Singapore Grand Prix.
“I’ll debrief and look at all the things I could have done better as a driver, work with my team to review and reflect on things we can improve for Singapore, and most importantly push ourselves after a bad weekend to get back to the front of the grid where we should be.” she said.
Singapore is the closest that the Filipina can have to a home race this season, expecting a lot of Filipinos to fly in to support the 19-year-old on September 20 to 22.
Currently, Bustamante bumped down two places in the driver’s championship at P7 after entering Zandvoort at P5. She will look to improve on her placing in Singapore. She’s also seeking her second podium and first win of the season with McLaren.
Bustamante’s tough weekend came during a great showing for McLaren in F1 where Lando Norris nabbed his second career win at the home track of championship rival Max Verstappen. HIs teammate Oscar Piastri finished P4.
Riding on a good weekend from her fellow McLaren drivers, Bustamante looks forward to a better performance.
“Singapore is a few weeks away and I’m more motivated than ever to make up for this one. Big thanks to all of you here in the Netherlands for the great support.” she said.
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