Reese Witherspoon says Bianca Bustamante’s moments in ‘F1’ docu are her fave

Reese Witherspoon (left) and Bianca Bustamante. Images: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, Netflix

The empowering story of Bianca Bustamante in Netflix’s “F1: The Academy” documentary series caught the attention of Reese Witherspoon, who considers the Filipino motorsports racing driver’s moments as her favorite.

Bustamante is one of the female racers featured in the seven-part “F1: The Academy,” which spotlights the stories of women in motorsports. The documentary series also sheds light on the personal journey of the Filipina, who hopes that aspiring female racers will be inspired by how she was able to take charge of her own legacy.

The documentary series is produced by Hello Sunshine, a media company co-founded by Witherspoon and Seth Rodsky. The Hollywood actress is also one of the executive producers of the production company.

According to Bustamante, Witherspoon told her during “F1: The Academy’s” Miami premiere that the Filipina’s scenes were her “favorite.”

“I met her for the first time during the premiere in Miami [during] the premiere night, and I’ve never seen any [scenes of the documentary] up to that point. I met Reese, and she said, ‘I saw all the episodes and you’re my favorite.’ And I’m like, ‘I haven’t seen it, I’m really scared,’” she told INQUIRER.net in a virtual interview.

At the time, Bustamante was “really petrified” about how her scenes turned out. But when the racer witnessed her story from a third-person perspective, she was ecstatic to see the “best years of her life” on TV.

“That was like the funny thing because, obviously, before the Miami premiere, I didn’t know what to expect. I just sat there, really petrified, like, what if I look fat? What if I said something wrong? And there are these demons in your head, right? I went into panic mode,” she recalled.

“But when I saw it, I fell in love with it, and it’s kind of cool to essentially have the best years of your life on TV. I can always be like, ‘That was a great year. I have to rewatch it,’” she said.

When asked if she sees herself on the red carpet as an actress, Bustamante said, “Oh God,” before bursting into laughter. Touching on her wide presence on social media, the racer said she considers the internet as a “branding and marketing” tool to fuel her dreams.

“I use social media as branding and marketing to fuel my dreams. I wouldn’t be here without everyone’s support [for] me, but I’ve had to work hard to make money for myself to afford getting these very expensive race cars,” she said.

“But it’s also to afford my flat, fly myself out, and if there was a dream world, I didn’t have to do any of that if I had infinite amounts of money,” she further explained.

(From left) Bianca Bustamante, Abbi Pulling and Doriane Pin in “F1: The Academy.” Image: Courtesy of Netflix

Aside from racing, Bustamante is passionate about social media as it allows her to explore different facets of herself, such as fashion.

“[Social media] is something I am passionate about, such as getting into fashion. I’ve done a couple of magazine cover shoots and BAFTAs, like, there are all these different things that I’m venturing into,” she said. “It’s so cool that I get to dip in and out of it, because my world is still racing, but if the opportunity arises, I will have to think about it.”

Also included in “F1: The Academy” are Lia Block, Chloe Chambers, Tina Hausmann, Lola Lovinfosse, Aurelia Nobels, Doriane Pin, Abbi Pulling, Carrie Schreiner, Amna Al Qubaisi, Hamda Al Qubaisi and Maya Weug, as well as F1 managing director Susie Wolff.  /ra