McLaren’s development driver Bianca Bustamante joined in the celebrations following McLaren’s first F1 Constructors’ title in 26 years.
Bianca Bustamante was among those at the McLaren garage as the England-based team won their first F1 Constructors’ Championship since 1998, following Lando Norris' victory at Yas Marina Circuit for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday.
Bustamante, who drives for McLaren primarily in the support series F1 Academy, shared snaps on social media where she is seen with the McLaren mechanics, staff, and fellow drivers Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Piastri, who finished P10 in the Grand Prix due to penalties, was also captured hugging Bustamante in one of the photos.
“This team, they've been my home, they've been my family, and now they're world constructors champions once again,” Bustamante wrote on social media.
“It has been such a journey watching them grow, my absolute role models in this sport. I can't believe I get to experience this in my lifetime. I can't believe I get to wear these colors,” she added.
Bustamante also just wrapped up her first F1 Academy season donning the McLaren colors where she finished P7 in the drivers standings. The Laguna native ended up with 73 points in a season highlighted by one podium finish.
In Yas Marina, she broke a streak of three scoreless weekends with back-to-back points finishes in Race 1 and 2 of the final round of the F1 Academy season.
However, she could not end with a bang as she finished outside of the Top 10 in Race 3.
[RELATED: Bianca Bustamante back in the points in F1 Academy season finale at Abu Dhabi]
Still, there was a lot of reasons to celebrate for Bustamante and McLaren as the main Formula 1 team finished ahead of title rivals Ferrari with 666 points.
Ferrari were 14 points behind at 652, with the outgoing Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc in P2 and P3, respectively.
Red Bull, who were led by four-time champion Max Verstappen, ended up P3 in Constructors with 589 points — 437 points of which were scored by the Dutchman. His teammate Sergio Perez managed 152 points.
Norris and Piastri finished P2 and P4 in the drivers standings, respectively, with 374 and 292 points. Ferrari’s Charles LeClerc was sandwiched in-between at P3 with 356 points.
Known women’s sports advocate Lewis Hamilton also raced his final Grand Prix for Mercedes before his move to Ferrari. The seven-time world champion finished 7th in the 2024 championship with 223 points.