María de Villota Comba (born 13 January 1980 in Madrid, Madrid, Spain – died 11 October 2013 in Seville, Seville, Andalusia, Spain) was a Spanish racing driver who was a test driver Renault and Marussia in Formula One. She was the daughter of Emilio de Villota, who raced in F1.
In July 2012, while performing a straight line test for Marussia, she collided with a stationery truck at the end of a test run the service area, suffering extreme head and facial injuries, resulting in the loss of one eye but escaping severe neurological damage.
On 11 October 2013, she was found dead in her hotel room in Seville.
Formula One Career[]
Before Formula One[]
Prior to becoming a test driver in Formula One, de Villota competed in the World Touring Car Championship and ADAC Procar Series. In 2009 she signed with Atlético Madrid to race for the remainder of the season in the Superleague Formula open wheel racing series. She continued racing with the Atlético Madrid team until the Superleague Formula open wheel racing series folded in 2011.
2011[]
In the summer of 2011, de Villota was given a test driving position with the Renault team. She performed minor tests with the team, but despite expressing her deep interest in staying for the team for the next season, they never offered her a position.
2012[]
In the spring of 2012, de Villota was successful in finding work with the Marussia team. She was thrilled with the position and was promised that she would have the honor of participating in the test at the end of the year at Abu Dhabi:
"This is a fantastic opportunity to work closely with a Formula 1 team and gain important experience to help me progress my career, including the chance to drive the new car later in the year at the Abu Dhabi test." - María de Villota
Accident[]
Death[]
De Villota was found in the hotel dead on 11th October 2013, in 2013 Japanese Grand Prix we got 1 minute silence for respect of the family
Formula One Statistical Overview[]
Formula One Record[]
Year | Entrant | Team | WDC Points | WDC Pos. | Report |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2011 | Lotus Renault GP | Renault | Test Driver | ||
2012 | Marussia F1 Team | Marussia-Cosworth | Test Driver |
Notes[]
v·d·e | Nominate this page for Featured Article |
V T E | Marussia F1 | ||
---|---|---|---|
Personnel Nikolai Fomenko · John Booth · Graeme Lowdon · Pat Symonds | |||
Former drivers 28. Will Stevens · 98. Roberto Merhi · 4. Max Chilton · 17. Jules Bianchi Timo Glock · Charles Pic Test drivers Dino Zamparelli · Tio Ellinas · Rio Haryanto · Alexander Rossi · María de Villota | |||
Cars MR01 · MR02 · MR03 · MNR1 | |||
See also Virgin Racing · Manor Racing F1 Team | |||