McLaren developmental driver Bianca Bustamante. –BIANCA TWITTER
MANILA, Philippines — Filipino racer Bianca Bustamante apologized for “accidentally” liking an ableist tweet against Formula 1 driver Lance Stroll.
However, eagle-eyed X (formerly Twitter) users saw Bustamante liked a now-deleted tweet of a social media user that contained ableist remarks towards the Aston Martin driver.
The tweet claimed Stroll brought his way into the sport with the help of his father Lawrence, the owner and director of the Formula 1 racing team.
“How can you say she’s overrated when you have people who buy there way into the sport like autism stroll who have talent but if they didn’t have daddy’s money would be replaced instantly, like don’t say overrated till she gets her shot,” read the user’s tweet liked by Bustamante.
Bustamante, a member of the McLaren Driver Development Programme, apologized for her actions, insisting that she is not tolerating ableism.
“I truly deeply apologise. I own up to my mistakes having liked an inappropriate tweet, I can’t believe all the people whom I have hurt. I was scrolling and I accidentally liked the tweet, once I discovered that later on, I immediately unliked it,” Bustamante wrote.
The 18-year-old driver added that she will never be an ableist as her brother has autism. She also apologized to the younger Stroll.
“As someone who grew up with my only brother having Autism, I completely understand the challenges faced by anyone that is Autistic. I would never in a million years support Ableism at any level, let alone support an Ableist tweet against a fellow driver. I take the topic of Autism very seriously and very personal,” Bustamante said.
“To Lance Stroll and anyone that this has offended, I sincerely apologize as these types of comments is something I do not support. I hope the racing community understands this is 100% an accident, my sincerest apologies for this big mistake.”
https://twitter.com/racerbia/status/1740054801675886724?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
Bustamante shared a video of her bonding moment with her brother in a separate tweet, asking for forgiveness from the whole autism community.
The Filipino prodigy will compete in the ART Grand Prix, which marks her second year in the all-female F1 Academy.