In the driver seat with Bianca Bustamante

EuroCup 3 Driver, Bianca Bustamante, joins us this International Women's Day to share her story of ambition, resilience and redefining what it means to lead in a world that wasn't built for her.

By Charity De Guzman, Head of Creative

March 6, 2026

When Bianca Bustamante arrived on set for our International Women’s Day campaign, she entered with a calm confidence, greeting every crew member one by one. Just days earlier she had been racing at 260km/h in Madrid. Now she sat in the makeup chair getting ready to shoot fashion in Sydney. Whether on the track or on a shoot location, she was completely in her element: at peace, locked in, ready to go.

This International Women’s Day, we celebrate women who have found confidence in who they are, wherever they are, and give them the spotlight they deserve. Because when one woman thrives, we all do.

“And for me, today means representation. It means not just empowerment, but celebrating differences we have. And as someone who competes in a very male dominated sport, I feel very appreciative to have a day to just be proud of who I am as a driver, as a person, and of course, as a woman.”

We chat with Bianca: a prolific name in professional racing, bringing proud femininity to a sport long dominated by men. She was the first female driver signed to Mclaren's Driver Development Programme, holds an impressive record with F1 Academy, and is currently competing in EuroCup 3 as the only woman on the grid. While she proudly represents her Philippine heritage, she also continues to push the boundaries of what women in motorsport can achieve and she shows no sign of slowing down.

“Being a woman in this sport means that you're constantly underestimated for how you drive, how you look, the things you say and the clothes you wear…

The hardest challenge I had to face in the sport is probably the physicality of it. The fact that it was normally built for men, I had to drive a car that was too heavy, too big. And I had to spend all the hours in the gym making sure that I was physically fit for every race, being able to compete against the boys.”

Bianca speaks candidly about her journey in motorsport, sharing both the beauty of the sport and the barriers she’s come up against. In an industry where women have historically been the exception, she continues to prove that ambition and progress is due to anyone willing to chase after them.

“I was told to dream less so that I'll achieve something in life. Growing up, I've always tried my best to not only prove them wrong, but prove to myself that I'm worthy of any dream. I apply that to my work ethic and put in the hard work that goes into my sport. Being here with MESHKI and driving cars all over the world is me proving them wrong, and proving myself right.”

Confidence, for Bianca, has many forms: sometimes it looks like putting on a race suit and stepping into the car. Other times it looks like doing her own makeup, or putting on a dress for an event. Her story reminds us that your differences are a strength, not a weakness. Because the world of motorsport may not have been built for her, but she’s ready to make her mark on it.

“I stay feminine through showing my beauty in everything that I do, in my sport, in my daily life, in being creative, and through fashion. I always thought that I didn't need to change myself to fit in the dominance that the sport entails.”

We don't all race 260km/h in Madrid, but we all sit in the driver's seat of our own journeys. We come across pitstops, fast lanes and detours, but we take a lesson from Bianca’s story: Confidence will keep moving you forward.