Former Marussia F1 aero test driver Maria de Villota has been speaking this weekend of her new life, following her life threatening accident at Duxford almost a year ago. De Villota was doing straight line aero tests on the runway at the former WWII airbase when she crashed into the open tailgate of a truck which was parked near the team’s temporary pit awning. Formula 1 held its breath as she underwent a series of vital operations at Adenbrokes Hospital in nearby Cambridge. She suffered a severe head injury, lost her right eye and required 104 stitches in her face. More…

Marussia F1 team has issued a carefully worded statement today saying that after internal and external investigations into the accident at Duxford this month which hospitalised Maria de Villota, a technical problem with the car has been ruled out. John Booth, the Marussia team principal said, “We are satisfied that the findings of our internal investigation exclude the car as a factor in the accident.” Although the report does not say it explicitly, the implication is that the accident was down to the driver. De Villota, the team’s test driver, who had just completed the first straight line aero testing More…

Marussia F1 team has put out a very encouraging statement this evening regarding the condition of Maria de Villota, who was badly injured in a straight line testing accident at Duxford last week. “Despite severe injuries, Maria’s recovery.. has been remarkable,” said the statement, which was issued with the blessing of the De Villota family. It continued: “Following two successful surgical procedures in the days following the accident, last Saturday the medical team at Addenbrooke’s Hospital began to gradually reduce the level of Maria’s sedation. By Sunday morning, Maria was awake and able to speak to her family, which provided More…

The Marussia team has confirmed that Maria de Villota has lost her right eye and remains in a “critical but stable condition” following her accident at Duxford Airfield on Tuesday. The Spanish test driver, carrying out her first day of straightline aerodynamic testing for the team, made contact with a support truck at the end of her first installation run in the MR-01 and following treatment by paramedics was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. The 32-year-old regained consciousness at the hospital but was confirmed as having sustained serious head and facial injuries. On Wednesday afternoon Marussia provided an update More…

[Updated 16:00 BST) Maria de Villota, the Marussia test driver, has been seriously injured in a straight line aero test session at Duxford Aerodrome, according to local emergency services. De Villota was in the early stages of a day of driving the Marussia car for the first time in the programme when she made contact with a truck. An exact report of what happened has not been issued yet, but it seems she was at the end of an initial run and was manoeuvring close to the team's operations tent, when she ran into the tailgate of a support truck, More…

Marussia has paved the way for a female driver to compete in an official Formula 1 test at the end of the year by signing Spaniard Maria De Villota to a test driver role. The 32-year-old is the daughter of former F1 driver Emilio de Villota, who made two grands prix starts in the late 1970s, and made her F1 test bow for Lotus Renault at Paul Ricard last year. She has also had race experience in Formula Palmer Audi and the football-themed Superleague. Marussia team principal John Booth said: “We are pleased to welcome Maria to our test driver More…