Maria de Villota who suffered life-threatening injuries in a Formula 1 testing accident in July last year, has been found dead in Spain.
The daughter of ex-F1 racer Emilio de Villota was found in a hotel room in Sevilla.
De Villota had continued to be active in the motor racing community following her Marussia testing accident, acting as an ambassador to the FIA's Women in Motorsport Commission.
“Dear friends: Maria has left us,” De Villota's family wrote on her 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.”.
An internal investigation by the Marussia F1 team into last year's testing accident concluded that the crash was not caused by a car failure.