2011
The 2011 season began with promising fourth and ninth place finishes at St. Petersburg and Barber; however the next race at Long Beach was not as successful: she started 18th and finished 20th. At the next race, the São Paulo Indy 300, an accident between her and Helio Castroneves put her nine laps down, after the race was postponed to the next morning due to severe rain conditions. She also received criticism from broadcasters during the race as she raced hard against the leaders even when she was several laps down, rather than letting them pass. She started 13th and finished 20th, nine laps down, but recorded the fastest lap of the race.
She received second degree burns on her right hand and superficial burns on her left hand in a crash during practice for the 2011 Indianapolis 500 on May 19. The crash, which sent her car sailing into the catch fence before flipping and landing on its left tires, was caused by mechanical failure in the left rear of her No. 78 Dallara/Honda. On May 21, using her backup car, she qualified 24th for the race with a four-lap average of 224.392 mph.
After a crash at the Milwaukee Mile during qualifying, de Silvestro was cleared to drive in the race. but withdrew from the race after experiencing dizziness and impaired vision. At the next race in Iowa, she was not cleared to compete due to continuing dizziness.
De Silvestro missed Round 13 of the season at Sonoma, after being refused entry to the United States. She finished 20th overall in the 2011 series standings.
Read more about this topic: Simona De Silvestro, Racing Career