A year after almost losing her life behind the wheel of a race car, former Formula One test driver Maria de Villota was found dead in a hotel room in Seville on Friday, according to the Associated Press.
De Villota, the daughter of former F1 driver Emilio de Villota, was in Seville to launch her autobiography.
"Dear friends: Maria has left us," read a statement from her family on De Villota's official Facebook page. "She had 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."
Spanish police told the AP that investigators did not find any drugs or signs of violence and "everything points to a death by natural causes." The police spokesman spoke on condition of anonymity in line with police policy.
The 33-year-old Madrid native was the daughter of Emilio de Villota, who competed in F1 from 1976-82. Villota was a pioneer for women in Formula One. F1 officials and drivers at the Japanese Grand Prix were reportedly stunned by her death, according to the AP.
"My deepest condolences go to the De Villota family," FIA president Jean Todt said. "Maria was a fantastic driver, a leading light for women in motorsport and a tireless campaigner for road safety. Above all she was a friend I deeply admired."
McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said as the chairman of the Formula One Teams' Association the "whole paddock is very shocked by the news that Maria is no longer with us."
"She was an inspiration not just to women in this sport, but also to all those who suffered life-threatening injuries," he said.
De Villota was seriously injured last year in a crash during testing for the Marussia F1 team in England, losing her right eye and sustaining other serious head injuries that kept her hospitalized for a month. The F1 community, in Japan for Sunday's grand prix at the Suzuka Circuit, flocked to pay its respects to the former World Touring Car Championship and Euroseries 3000 driver.
