By Katie El Tahchi | Staff Writer

Formula 1 is undoubtedly a male-dominated field when it comes to drivers and key figures. For a woman to make the headlines surely means that she has a special talent. In October of this year, 18-year-old Bianca Bustamante signed with McLaren’s Driver Development Program. This program is set to shape racing drivers into real professionals in hopes of one day having them compete in race seats for the Formula 1, IndyCar, and Formula E teams. Popular drivers such as Lewis Hamilton, and both Lando Norris and rookie Oscar Piastri the McLaren Formula One drivers have been through this program. Not only did Bianca Bustamante mark history by being the only woman in the program, but she now has an opportunity to rise and claim her spot among all these male racing professionals. 

At the delicate age of 5 years old, Bianca Bustamante started her racing career as early as all the men racers. Competing for both national and international karting races, she slowly but impressively made her way to the top until finally earning the interest of one of the best Formula 1 teams of our days. In 2021, Bianca Bustamante qualified in the FIA’s Girls on Track Rising Stars program. It seems she was always being selected into development programs that opened global doors for her. Not long after she was seen driving in the Formula 4 UAE Championship with PREMA (Italian motorsports team) just before being brought into Formula 1 Academy. Her performance in the F1 Academy races has brought her the most attention. Her talent was clear when she only joined the Academy with PREMA for the 2023 season and put her hands on her first career win in the Spanish Grand Prix, and later on in the Italian Grand Prix. McLaren saw the potential in her and recruited her. McLaren’s Driver Development Program will ensure Bianca’s best preparation for battling for an F1 seat in this already highly competitive male-dominated sector. What would it mean for F1 to have her race? With the number of female fans rising by the day, Formula One should be working on including at least one female driver in their grid. It should not be argued that adding this female talent should be based on her results and driving skills. However, having this competent female talent will change the F1 demographic and widen their fanbase. It also proves that if anyone works hard enough and is fit to be in an F1 car they can fulfill their dreams. 

The last time a woman ever raced in a Formula 1 Grand Prix was in the 1970s. Lella Lombardi and Maria Teresa de FIlippis are the only women to have ever raced in the championship. Formula One has been around for almost 75 years and only 2 women have participated out of the 775 drivers since the first-ever Grand Prix. One could argue that Formula 1 is a sport where a lot of physical strength is needed. Handling a Formula 1 car that weighs around 800 kilograms requires a great amount of strength especially in the driver’s core, neck, and legs. The driver’s body should be able to handle the tremendous amount of force that they are subject to. This in Motorsports terms is called G-Force which is a measure of acceleration. Drivers experience up to 5-G force on corners, which is equivalent to 24 kg of weight. One could wonder about how a woman could withstand that force. With a lot of access to weight training and exhausting workouts, Bianca Bustamante will be able to handle a Formula 1 race. Having the right mindset and physical performance, Bustamante could become a great racer, representing women in this male-dominated field for the first time in almost 50 years. Even from an economic revenue level, having her rise in the industry could lead to Formula 1 increasing their revenues due to interest in Bianca alone. 

With the emergence of social media, F1 has been gaining a lot of popularity and growing its fandom day by day, thus logically growing its revenue. Having good personal relations, marketing teams that interact with the audience, lots of press conferences and even entertaining ‘behind the scenes’ footage has increased the number of fans. However, nothing will amount to the difference of having a woman on the grid. Young girls to adult women would immediately be incited to watch F1 thus increasing the popularity of the sport even more. The power the female audience holds is greatly underrated and underappreciated as it could play a huge role when it comes to F1’s future revenues and profit. With Bustamante (or any talented woman being on the grid), even more brands could start sponsoring the sport such as make-up brands like L’Oréal. Bianca Bustamante’s participation in McLaren’s Driver Development Program is just the beginning of a hopefully successful and empowering role for women in Formula 1, which could be a win-win situation for the sport, the driver, and the audience.