Family of Maria de Villota agree settlement

Maria de Villota’s death at the age of 33 had been linked to her Marussia test crash in 2012.

In July 2012, the former Marussia test driver suffered a horrific crash during testing.

The crash happened shortly after she had completing an installation circuit of the track at Duxford Airfield.

Witnesses at the scene reported that her car suddenly accelerated and crashed into the team truck.

Speculation had led to some reporters suggesting that perhaps the cars anti stall system had been at fault, but Marussia concluded following an investigation that the car was not to blame for the accident.

Maria De Villota’s injuries were sustained when her car crashed into the teams truck, which had the tailgate lowered at the time of the crash. De Villota’s helmet took the brunt of the impact at around 30-40mph.

She was unconscious for around 15 to 20 minutes, while she was treated by paramedics and the ambulance service announced that she had suffered life-threatening injuries.

The day after the crash the team announced that following a lengthy surgical procedure, she had lost her right eye.

Two days later she went back into theatre for a further procedure on her facial and skull injuries.

Amazingly Maria moving into a stable condition, awake and able to speak to her family.

A week or so later she left the Neurological Critical Care Unit and returned to Spain.

Maria de Villota’s recovery continued, where she was expected to continue to undergo periodical checks and treatments by specialists of the plastic and neurological surgery services.

In February 2013 she had been cleared to drive following a series of tests on her vision, but admitted that she still suffered from headaches and often felt weak.

In July 2013 she married her personal trainer Rodrigo Garcia Millan and had become a motivational speaker.

Along side her work as a motivational speaker Maria de Villota had also been working as an ambassador for the Women in Motorsport commission and motor racing safety campaigns.

However in October 2013 she was found dead, her death was reportedly a consequence of the neurological injuries that she suffered in July of 2012.

De Villota’s family subsequently began litigation against the Marussia F1 Team [later named Manor].

UK law firm Slater and Gordon announced last week that an agreement had been reached between the family and the now defunct team.

‘The family of Maria de Villota are pleased to say that they have reached agreement in their dispute with the Manor F1 Team following Maria’s accident on the 3 July 2012, The accident happened for a number of reasons, one of which was that a lorry was parked in the pit area with its tail lift projecting, for which Maria was not at fault.’

‘This is an important moment, as the family can now put all their efforts into continuing with Maria’s Legacy.’

‘Maria’s Legacy is a movement created to give continuity to Maria’s solidarity programs focussing primarily on children with neurodegenerative diseases and people with limited financial resources. a statement from Slater and Gordon said as quoted by motorsport.com.