It’s now the second time this year that a racing driver is facing intense scrutiny for their social media activity. Bianca Bustamante, a promising young addition to the McLaren Driver Development program and F1 Academy driver could be on the verge of facing a potential suspension following her inadvertent ‘like’ of a derogatory post targeting Lance Stroll on Twitter.

This incident is eerily similar to NASCAR’s recent suspension of driver Noah Gragson for a similar social media blunder. Both NASCAR and Legacy Motor Club indefinitely suspended Gragson after ‘liking’ an insensitive meme featuring George Floyd’s face. Now, the only question that matters right now is how Formula 1 will respond to this situation.

Will Formula 1 suspend Bianca Bustamante despite her swift apology?

The nightmare for Bianca Bustamante started when she ‘liked’ a tweet containing an insensitive “autistic” slur aimed at Aston Martin’s driver, Lance Stroll. However, she wasted no time addressing the incident. She promptly issued a public apology to both the racing community and Lance Stroll himself. Bianca asserted that the incident was an unfortunate accident. In her statement, she clarified that upon realizing her error, she immediately unliked the tweet.

What adds a deeper layer to this situation is her personal connection to the topic of autism, as she grew up with her only brother having autism. In her apology, Bustamante shed light on the gravity of her action and emphasized that she understands the challenges faced by individuals with autism. She distanced herself from supporting ableism, making it clear that she would never endorse any form of discriminatory remarks against a fellow driver.

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“To Lance Stroll and anyone that this has offended, I sincerely apologize as these types of comments are something I do not support,“ she wrote as part of her apology. Bustamante even went on to share a personal video with her brother. In the video, she wrote, “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.“

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Considering that Formula 1 has a history of banning driver speech, one could imagine that this situation could go in a similar direction as it did for Noah Gragson, despite his immediate apology. After all, a Formula 1 commentator was suspended last year for this very same reason.

Belgian broadcaster suspended an F1 commentator for calling Lance Stroll ‘the autistic’

During the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix, Lionel Froissart, a Formula 1 commentator for Belgian broadcaster RTBF Sport, got suspended after making an inappropriate comment about Lance Stroll, referring to him as “the autistic.” Despite being cautioned by his colleague, Froissart attempted to justify his remark, claiming, “Honestly, this is the truth.”

Froissart’s remark quickly garnered huge criticism over social media. In response, RTBF announced Froissart’s suspension pending an investigation. The broadcaster stated according to Mirror.co.uk, “RTBF strongly condemns the words used on Sunday, July 10, on air by its consultant Lionel Froissart during the Austrian Grand Prix. Associating autism with a driver’s way of communicating was misplaced and completely inconsistent with RTBF values. An internal investigation will be conducted to hear all the involved persons.”

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Do you think the same fate as Noah Gragson could befall Bianca Bustamante in the coming days? Share your insights down below in the comments.