María de Villota was born in Madrid on 13 January 1980. She was the daughter of former Formula One driver Emilio de Villota. She was also the sister of Emilio de Villota, Jr., who also competed in Formula Palmer Audi. Before her death, de Villota was recovering from serious injuries on her head and face. These was caused by a straight-line testing accident at the Duxford Aerodrome in Duxford, Cambridgeshire, England on 3 July 2012. She married Rodrigo García Millán, a personal trainer and owner of Oxigeno Training, on 28 July 2013 in Seville. They got married less than three months before her death.