Formula One (F1) race car driver Maria de Villota was found dead in her hotel room in Seville, Spain on Friday with police believing her death to be due to "natural causes" with Spanish authorities telling the Associated Press that they did not find any drugs or signs of violence in de Villota's room.
"We are assuming it was a natural death, but we cannot confirm anything," said a Spanish police spokeswoman to the BBC.com.
De Villota, 33, was the daughter of F1 driver Emilio de Villota who competed from 1976 to 1982. De Villota had suffered serious injuries after crashing during a testing for Marussia F1 team in England last year, after hitting a support truck during a straight-line exercise near an airfield in England.
De Villota lost her right eye and suffered serious head injuries that kept her hospitalized for a month. De Villota, a 12-year motor-racing veteran, had previously competed in the Spanish Formula 3 circuit, the world touring car championship in 2006 and 2007, the Superleague open-wheel series as well the Daytona 24 Hours race held every year in Florida.
"She was an inspiration not just to women in this sport, but also to all those who suffered life-threatening injuries," said McLaren Racing CEO Martin Whitmarsh.
Whitmarsh plans to hold discussions with F1 officials over an appropriate way to commemorate the life and career of de Villota during this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix.
"You have to be careful; a lot of racers don't want these issues to detract from a race weekend," said Whitmarsh to the BBC. "Everyone wants to demonstrate the right level of sympathy but the real racers would want the show to go on and wouldn't want a fuss to be made. It's not something we need to amplify, it's something we've got to be sensitive about."
De Villota was in Sevilla attending the "What Really Matters" conference whose mission is to inspire and teach young people about "universal human values." Organizers have canceled the conference after receiving news on her death.
"After the accident everybody else would have thought she doesn't really want to have anything to do with motorsport," said Sauber F1 Team principal Monisha Kaltenborn - who worked with de Villota as an ambassador for the Women in Motorsport Commission. "It didn't take her any time at all until she was back; she was planning maybe even to drive but more important to her was to give other people the courage that you can still do so much even if you've had such a major setback."
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/E9U82QNiWvo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>