Female Formula One test driver Maria de Villota was seriously injured in a collision with a team vehicle during a testing session at an airfield in southern England on Tuesday.
De Villota’s team, Marussia F1, said De Villota’s car hit the team support truck at the end of her first run at Duxford Airfield in Cambridgeshire at 0815 GMT. It was the first time the 32-year-old Spanish driver tested the team’s MR-01 car.
Marussia said De Villota was taken to a hospital, while a police spokesman told The Associated Press she “received a serious injury” in the low-speed crash. The spokesman wouldn’t give further details on De Villota’s condition.
“Maria has been transferred to hospital. Once her medical condition has been assessed a further statement will be issued,” the Russian-owned Marussia team said in a statement.
De Villota is the daughter of former F1 driver Emilio de Villota and joined Marussia as a test driver at the start of this season, becoming the sport’s first full-time female driver since the 1990s. She had previously tested for Renault and had racing experience in Spanish F3 and the Daytona 24-Hours.
The team started in Formula One as Virgin Racing in 2010 and rebranded as Marussia for the start of the current season. It has yet to pick up a point this year ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
