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# McLaren F1 junior apologises for liking anti-Stroll ableist tweet
- URL: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mclaren-f1-junior-apologises-liking-anti-stroll-ableist-tweet/
- Published: 2023-12-27T17:58:26.000Z
- Updated: 2023-12-29T08:44:36.000Z
- Description: McLaren Formula 1 junior Bianca Bustamante has apologised for liking an ableist tweet that targeted Aston Martin F1 driver Lance Stroll
- Author: Josh Suttill
- Tags: Formula 1, #mclaren, #image-top-center

McLaren Formula 1 junior Bianca Bustamante has apologised for liking an ableist tweet that targeted Aston Martin F1 driver Lance Stroll. 

The post on X (previously Twitter) in question was responding to a TikTok video that called F1 Academy driver Bustamante 'overrated'. 

The tweet featured a screenshot of Bustamante with the word 'overrated' underneath, along with a caption that included an offensive ableist remark against Stroll. 

There was social media backlash when it was discovered that Bustamante had liked that tweet. 

A few hours later the post was removed and Bustamante then issued an apology via her X account. 

"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," the 18-year-old driver wrote. 

"I was scrolling and accidentally liked the tweet, once I discovered that later on, I immediately unliked it.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/dd/af/ddafbd99-2ccd-468c-b622-4b3cccf80b49/content/images/2023/12/Bianca-Bustamente-F1-Academy-Cisco.png)

"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." 

Bustamante then shared a video of her brother. 

> 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. [pic.twitter.com/s3gwnnTgym](https://t.co/s3gwnnTgym?ref=the-race.com)
> 
> — Bianca Bustamante (@racerbia) [December 27, 2023](https://twitter.com/racerbia/status/1740054801675886724?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=the-race.com)

Bustamante finished seventh in the inaugural F1 Academy season, having previously raced in the final year of W Series. 

[She was the first female driver to be signed up to an F1 team](https://www.the-race.com/junior/mclaren-first-f1-team-to-announce-a-driver-for-2024-f1-academy/) for the 2024 F1 Academy season with McLaren signing her to its driver development programme in October. 

Bustamante has 1.1 million followers on Instagram and over 57,000 on X.