Formula 1 driver Maria de Villota has been found dead in her Spanish hotel room, it has been confirmed in a statement from her family.
“Dear friends: Maria has left us,” it read. “She has to go to heaven like all angels. We are thankful to God for the extra year and a half that he left her with us.”
The Spaniard is one of just a few women to get behind the wheel of a modern F1 car and recently underwent major surgery following a testing crash for Marussia last year.
She lost her right eye in the incident when the car suddenly accelerated and her helmet struck the rear of a team transporter truck.
The 33-year-old was staying at a hotel in Seville ahead of her autobiography signing, ‘Life is a gift’, which she wrote following the crash.
According to reports, emergency services were called to the hotel at 07:00 local time, but couldn’t resuscitate her.
It’s not been confirmed how she passed away.
The F1 Times would like to pass on its deepest condolences to the De Villota family at this difficult time.
