The past race weekend turned out to be quite the fantastic one for up-and-coming Filipina talent Bianca Bustamante. Following her stellar debut at the F1 Academy—earning a P2 finish in her first outing last month—she has now nabbed her first-ever career victory in Valencia.
The 18-year-old finished strong in fifth after the first race, which was then followed up by a P1 finish. She was then able to earn more points in the third and final race of the second round with a P7 finish.
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With two of the seven rounds concluded, Bustamante is now in 6th place in the championship with 44 points, just nine points behind the third spot.

Bustamante joined PREMA to compete in the Formula 4 UAE Championship earlier this year before confirming her entry to the F1 Academy a month later. Now in its inaugural year, the F1 Academy is an all-female racing championship aimed at “developing the newest generation of female racing talent and grooming them to succeed in the steps along the Formula 1 ladder.”
The next round will still be in Spain, but the races will move to Barcelona later this month. The seventh and final round which will see the season concluded will be held in Austin in USA in October.