Bianca Bustamante’s confidence surges as she gears up for Abu Dhabi
Photo from racerbia/Instagram
The F1 Academy weekend in Qatar faced an unexpected turn of events as the second race at Lusail Circuit was canceled due to prolonged barrier repairs.
The incident stemmed from a crash during the Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East support race, which caused extensive damage at the track’s final corner.
With limited time to complete repairs, organizers made the decision to forego Race 2.
Filipino American racer Bianca Bustamante expressed her thoughts on Instagram, sharing both her frustrations and lessons learned.
View this post on Instagram
“We had our hearts set to fight for points this weekend, qualifying P7 and with the pace to go for top 5 in the races,” Bustamante wrote, reflecting on the missed opportunity.
Despite the setback, the first Filipina McLaren Development driver maintained a positive outlook, emphasizing her determination to give it her all during the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
The cancellation reduced an already tight racing schedule, leaving drivers with just one completed race in Qatar. This marks the least amount of track action in the series’ history, sparking discussions about whether adjustments will be made for the Abu Dhabi finale.
People are eager to know if an additional race might be added to compensate for the lost time, though no official confirmation has been made.
Bustamante remains hopeful, drawing confidence from her team’s strong performance during pre-season testing in Abu Dhabi. She extended gratitude to her team, engineer and McLaren for their unwavering support throughout the challenging weekend.
“Walking away from this race with all the confidence to fight it all for the season finale in Abu Dhabi,” she added. “We had a strong performance during testing there, let’s work from that.”
As the F1 Academy heads toward its finale, all eyes are now on Abu Dhabi, where racers will have one final chance to leave their mark on the season.
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