Bianca Bustamante makes it to Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe 2025
Bianca Bustamante added another feather to her cap as she was recognized by Forbes in their annual 30 Under 30 Europe list.
Days before her much-awaited debut at the GB3 Championship, Bianca was featured in the list's Sports and Games category.
"Since starting her career at age five, Bianca Bustamante is a motorsport rising star. Born and raised in the Philippines, the now London-based driver raced for the Italian Prema Powerteam in the 2023 Formula 4 Championship and was the second driver to compete in the all-female F1 Academy series with Prema Racing," her entry read.
"She was later the first female driver signed to the McLaren Driver Development Programme. In late 2024, it was announced that Bustamante would join the GB3 Championship with Elite Motorsport in 2025," it added.
Forbes highlighted how the young Filipina racer has gathered more than 3 million followers across social media and has "generated significant attention to herself and the sport and has landed sponsorships with Anastasia Beverly Hills, Cisco and more."
Bianca took to her Instagram account to express her joy at being recognized by Forbes.
"Gosh, putting this into writing feels unreal," she wrote. "Not gonna lie, I applied and sent over the application, answered the questions without ever thinking I’d actually get selected, especially with thousands of other nominations. And this morning I woke up to this, still completely speechless."
"It definitely hasn’t been an easy journey. [So] much work behind the scenes that doesn’t make it onto socials. I also know the journey’s nowhere near over, and I’ll have to keep pushing my limits," she added.
Bianca highlighted how this has been a "great source of motivation" for her in the days ahead and that she "can’t wait to see where the future takes us."
The annual 30 under 30 list honors young individuals in their fields under ten different categories: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Finance, Manufacturing & Industry, Media & Marketing, Retail & E-Commerce, Science & Healthcare, Social Impact, Sports & Games, and Technology.
Forbes writers and editors sift through thousands of online submissions, as well as tap industry sources and list alumni for recommendations. Candidates are evaluated by Forbes staff and a panel of independent, expert judges on a variety of factors, including funding, revenue, social impact, scale, inventiveness, and potential.
Bianca's recognition comes amid her upcoming stint at the UK-based motorsport series GB3 Championship, where she is set to compete in three rounds at the Silverstone Circuit.
In a roundtable interview attended by PhilSTAR L!fe, she highlighted how she wants to bag a top spot in the race.
"I want to finish in Top 10, score points. I think that will be a great way to start the season, but I know that it will be difficult. It will be my first time racing in such a long format as well," she said.
As Bianca is the first Filipino to compete in a GB3 Championship, she shared that representing both her home country and women in motorsport in the new arena is "both a personal endeavor and a professional goal" of hers.
"Ever since I was a young kid, I always knew that I was passionate about sports and representation, and I was always very vocal about it, and going into a very male-dominated space, not a lot of women are kind of encouraged to pursue it. But not just that, [there aren't] many Filipinos who are encouraged to pursue racing," she said.
"I made it my personal endeavor to not just represent but to encourage and inspire and show the next generation that anything is possible and that there's no space in this world where you can't be in anymore," the Pinay racer added.
For now, she busies herself in the training camp from nine to five, with a focus on improving her mentality, full vision reaction time, feeding and gathering information as quickly as possible, and staying calm despite stressful situations.
The 2025 GB3 Championship season begins on April 26 to 27 and is scheduled to end in October.
