Seriously injured Spanish test driver Maria De Villota is no longer under sedation and can now speak to her family and doctors.
The 32-year-old has been in hospital for eight days since suffering life-threatening head and facial injuries in a freak accident during a straight-line aerodynamic test at Duxford airfield in eastern England.
Her British-based Marussia Formula One team said on Wednesday that De Villota had been awake since Sunday morning, and her recovery during that time had been remarkable.
“Since that time, Maria has been making small but significant steps.
“Her family remain by her side and she is communicating freely with them and the medical team.”
De Villota, whose father Emilio was a Formula One driver, was driving the Marussia for the first time and returning slowly to mechanics when witnesses said it abruptly accelerated into the back of a parked team truck with the impact at helmet level. - Reuters