De Villota sees beyond track after losing eye
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Buy SPH photosMADRID (AFP) - Spanish Formula One driver Maria de Villota said on Thursday losing her eye in a July crash has let her see beyond the race track to the important things in life.
In an emotional first news conference since the accident, de Villota insisted there is a place for women in the male-dominated world of F1 and she hopes someone will pick up where she left off.
The 32-year-old Marussia driver wore a patch over the right eye, which she lost when her car smashed into a support vehicle on July 3 during testing at Duxford Airfield circuit in Cambridgeshire, eastern England.
"Before, I only saw Formula One, I only saw myself in a car competing and did not see what was important in life, the clarity to say 'I am alive'," she told reporters at the headquarters of the Spanish sports council.
