Re:
An amazing safety record given the nature of the sport, though I would add any death in development work/testing into the statistics; so really Maria De Villota was the last fatality.
There are too many near misses in my view, and the open cars are something I can't see continuing for long.
The worst thing about this tragedy is how avoidable it appears to have been.
I wince every time I see cars or parts of cars being retrieved whilst the circuit is active, barriers being opened and humans running across the path of cars.
They ought to look more closely at laminate technology to prevent carbon fiber splitting off and causing havoc; with applications across so many other platforms there is money to be made.