Bianca Bustamante Is Named Among Most Marketable Athletes of 2024

(SPOT.ph) F1 Academy racer Bianca Bustamante has been included in the 150 Most Marketable Athletes of 2024 by SportsPro Media and NorthStar Solutions Group. She’s the only Filipino to make the list—at 19 years old in a male-dominated sport, no less.

At 64th place, Bustamante joins the likes of gymnast Simone Biles, basketball player LeBron James, soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo, and football player Travis Kelce. Four other F1 racers make it to the list, including Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen at 11th and 31st place, respectively, but Bustamante impresses as the highest-ranking female among them.

She had a tally of 14.97 out of 35 for brand strength (authenticity, brand risk and reputation, in-sport performance, presentation), 15.89 out of 35 for total addressable market (audience reach and engagement, social sentiment, sponsor awareness) and 24.28 out of 30 for economics (market value, social influence and engagement). This gives Bustamante a total of 55.14 marketability score.

“Being amongst such iconic names is surreal and humbling. When I started racing as a young kid, I only hoped to be able to drive in formula cars one day. It didn’t seem to be a reality because of the funds needed to compete, but we worked relentlessly trying to develop my driving, and build a name and place in motorsport. I just couldn’t take no for an answer,” Bustamante wrote in an Instagram post.

“It’s beautiful to see that hard work can turn into results, and I just want to take a moment to thank everyone, especially all my sponsors and partners that have given me this privilege to compete in motorsport… I will continue to give it my all.”

Last March, Bustamente was also ranked by vehicle rental company Avis as the third most influential non-European female racer with 2.2 million combined followers across Instagram and TikTok at that time. 

Also read: The Titles to Stream If You Need to Feed That F1 Frenzy

Who is Bianca Bustamante?

Bustamante made a name for herself as the first Filipina to race in F1 Academy, with a long history of local and international karting competitions since she was five years old. Did we mention she was born in 2005?

Born and raised in Laguna, she inherited her love for racing from her father, who took her to the track on multiple occasions as a form of father-daughter bonding activity. She is currently enrolled at the University of Santo Tomas Angelicum College’s home study program.

She began her career in the W Series in 2022 where she was recognized as the top rookie. In the same year, she also competed in the Formula 4 UAE Championship with the Italian team Prema Powerteam.

Her goal? To show the world that Asian drivers have a place on the global stage, as mentioned on her official website, but it seems as though she's already reached that goal. In 2023, Bustamante was tapped to join the newly launched F1 Academy series, a female-only racing championship by Formula One. She won twice in its first season. 

F1 driver Esteban Ocon was left in awe by Bustamante, calling her “super talented” after training with her that year.

“I trained with a young girl named Bianca. She was the first to arrive and the last to depart, it was a crazy thing,” Ocon said. “While I have been doing this for years, I was doing the same exercises. She immediately managed to impress me.”

Bustamante also made history by becoming the first female driver to join the McLaren Driver Development Programme, where she repped McLaren at the F1 Academy in 2024.