Maria de Villota Dead: One-Eyed Formula 1 Test Driver Dies In Hotel

Published on: October 11, 2013 at 9:31 AM

A hotel found Maria de Villota dead in her hotel room at the young age of 33. Maria de Villota is the daughter of Formula 1 driver Emilio de Villota.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr , Maria de Villota is a Formula 1 driver who lost her right eye in a crash last year.

But after recovering from her injuries the one-eyed Maria de Villota was cleared for driving again :

“There are drivers in the United States who have lost an eye and still have a licence. What’s true is that you lose the sense of depth, because it’s both eyes that give you the perspective. What I’m wondering now is if my future is being a racing driver or if there’s something else I have to do with my life. I still don’t know what I need to do.”

Unfortunately, we will now never know. Maria de Villota died in a hotel room in Seville, Spain at Hotel Sevilla Congresos. The exact cause of Maria de Villota’s death is unknown, but police say it was “apparently from natural causes” and that “every points to a death by natural causes.” Police did not find any sign of “any drugs or signs of violence” so they believe de Villota died from a heart attack, with some speculating the injuries from the crash could have caused.

Friends says Maria de Villotawas “always smiling” despite the tragedy and she had just recently married. The reason she was in the hotel was for a conference called “What Really Matters.”

The shock of hearing about the hotel finding Maria de Villota dead in her room has just started to spread through the racing community. The mood at the Japanese Grand Prix is described as being “sombre.”

A whole list of Maria de Villota tributes have been sounding out from all corners of the world. The FIA president Jean Todt called Maria de Villota a “leading light for women in motor sport and a tireless campaigner for road safety.”

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