Filipina driver Bianca Bustamante scores her first F1 Academy points since going on mid-season break in August.
Finally, it’s a breakthrough for McLaren development driver Bianca Bustamante as she finished in the points for the first time in four races in the final round of the F1 Academy season at Yas Marina in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday.
After a promising qualifying session earlier in the weekend, Bustamante converted her grid position into points, finishing in the top-10 of both Race 1 and Race 2, albeit out of the podium.
In Race 1, Bustamante finished P5 and was two seconds behind Emely De Heus of MP Motorsport. She did, however, breakaway from the rest of the grid and was 10 seconds ahead of P6 finisher Nerea Marti.
Newly-crowned F1 Academy champion Abbi Pulling won the race and was joined by home bet Hamda Al Qubaisi on the podium in P2, while championship runner-up Doriane Pin came in P3.
In Race 2, Bustamante was able to bring her momentum and finish P7, rounding up a total of 16 points before the final race of the season on Sunday. A third race was added to Yas Marina to close the season after Race 2 in Qatar was cancelled last week due to barrier damage.
Pulling once again ruled the race with a hairline victory over Chloe Chambers of Campos Racing, while Al Qubaisi made it back-to-back podiums on her home soil with a P3 finish in Race 2.
Bustamante thus tightened her hold on P7 in the drivers championship with a total of 73 points for the season.
Lia Block is her closest contender with 44 points at P8.
The final race of the season is slated for Sunday afternoon, Manila time, at the Yas Marina before the F1 season closes later Sunday at the same track. Bustamante’s McLaren teammates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri secured a front row lockout in qualifying to start P1 and P2 in the final race of the season.