“Shameless liar” - Bianca Bustamante causes huge uproar online as fans call her out for liking multiple Lance Stroll-related autism posts

McLaren F1 junior driver Bianca Bustamante has apologised to the racing community after liking multiple X posts that directed ableist remarks towards Lance Stroll.

Bianca Bustamante, a former driver for Prema Racing in the F1 Academy series and now a part of McLaren Driver Development Programme, was spotted liking tweets that had ableist remarks directed towards Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll.

The controversy started when a post on X (formerly Twitter) responded to a TikTok video calling Bustamante 'overrated.' The tweet, which has now been deleted, featured a screenshot of Bustamante with an 'overrated' label and included an offensive remark against Lance Stroll.

Upon receiving backlash from fans, Bustamante issued an official statement, apologising for her actions. The statement read:

"I truly deeply apologise. I own up to mistakes having liked an inappropriate tweet, I can't believe all the people whom I have hurt. I was scrolling and accidentally liked the tweet, once I discovered that later on, I immediately unliked it.

"As someone who grew up with my only brother having Autism, I completely understand the challenges faced by anyone with Autism. 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.

"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."

However, not all fans were satisfied with Bustamante's explanation. Reacting to her statement, one X user pointed out:

"You didn't even unlike the tweet, the user who posted it deleted it before you could do so... Shameless liar."

Another user commented:

"Don’t hide behind somebody else’s condition."

A third user expressed disappointment with Bustamante's actions, commenting:

"There were many posts that you liked that disparaged Lance... Yes, you’ve apologised, but I will not be supporting you at all, going forward."

Here are some more reactions to Bianca Bustamante's apology:

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Bianca Bustamante shares video of her brother following online backlash

Following her apology, the 18-year-old McLaren driver shared a clip with her autistic brother, apologising to the autism community. The caption read:

"I rarely share so much about my personal life. But if there’s one thing that kept me going, it was my brother... And truly I’m sorry to the whole Autism community."

Bianca Bustamante started 21 races for Prema Racing in the 2023 F1 Academy season, winning two of them. She accumulated a total of 116 points, finishing seventh in the standings.

Earlier this year, the Filipina became the first female driver to sign for the McLaren Driver Development Programme, and the second female since Emma Gilmour to sign for McLaren.