McLaren launches Bianca Bustamante's 2024 F1 Academy livery

McLaren revealed the 2024 livery that Bianca Bustamante will run during her second F1 Academy season.

Having joined the McLaren Driver Development programme in October, Bianca Bustamante was the first driver to be officially announced for the 2024 F1 Academy season: the 19 year old Filipina will be the McLaren flag-bearer in a ART Grand Prix entry.

Bustamante will sport a striking papaya livery in her first season as McLaren driver and will continue to use the #16 number. The livery just revealed by McLaren features Cisco as her primary sponsor, as the leader in enterprise networking, video collaboration and security technology will support the team's F1 Academy effort in 2024.

“The 2024 F1 Academy season is fast approaching and it's surreal that I'll be driving in the McLaren livery, I absolutely love it!" - Bianca said. "The design is incredibly iconic, and I'm so looking forward to racing in papaya."

Bianca, who will also use a Alpinestars race suit and Castore team kit, will aim to continue her fast progression in single seaters, after securing two race wins and four podiums in her first F1 Academy campaign - effectively her first in F4 machinery. She took her first ever win in race cars at Valencia, Spain, before climbing again to the top step of the podium in Monza.

Bustamante has focused on training throughout the winter break and is ready to prepare for her first test in Barcelona. The eye-catching papaya livery - which is part of the team's tradition since its 1967 championship-winning CanAm car driven by Bruce McLaren - will be hard to miss on the circuits of the 2024 F1 Academy season, from this year's permanent part of the F1 support bill.

“It’s great to see the F1 Academy livery revealed ahead of the upcoming season, the papaya design looks awesome and I’m looking forward to seeing it on track for the first time", commented Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing.

The season starts on 8-9 March at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Saudi Arabia.