Life

Formula One boss Nathalie Maillet and female lover tragically shot dead by husband

By Zoya Raza-Sheikh

19th August 2021

Nathalie Maillet, the owner of Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps track and former race car driver, was killed in a “double murder-suicide” aged 51. 

The chief executive of the Belgium Formula One circuit has been tragically found dead at her home in a suspected double murder and suicide.

Maillet was found on Sunday (August 15) in the region of Gouvy alongside 53-year-old Ann Lawrence Durviaux. Investigators believe Maillet’s husband killed both women before turning the gun on himself.

Belgian press has reported women were lovers and found in bed together where Maillet’s husband of 17 years, Franz Dubois, shot both women.

A police statement said the “lifeless” bodies of two women and a man (believed to be Mailet, Durviaux and Dubois) were discovered with fatal gunshot wounds, according to Sky News.

The alleged double murder-suicide occurred in Maillet’s home in Gouvy, Luxembourg, however, the motive behind the killings has not been identified.

“At 12:10 a.m., the bodies of two women and one man were discovered by the police in a house in Gouvy, all three presenting gunshot wounds,” a statement from Luxembourg’s public prosecutor said.

“According to our information, the male individual voluntarily used his firearm to kill both women, including his wife, before killing himself.”

The Belgium Formula One Spa-Francorchamps track was expected to host the next F1 Grand Prix on 29 August.

The track’s chairman, Melchior Wathelet, said: “My thoughts are with Nathalie’s family, her parents, relatives and teams.

“Today we are losing a very great lady, a motorsports lover and enthusiast, a true leader who will be sorely missed.

“Nathalie had become the face of the circuit, she embodied this passion for racing that we all share.”

F1 Media shared a tweet in memoriam of Maillet tragic death: “We are deeply saddened by the awful news that our friend Nathalie Maillet has died. The whole of Formula 1 sends its deepest condolences to her family and friends. The motorsport community has lost an incredible person and we will all miss her greatly.”

Maillet, a former award-winning race car driver, won her first Fun Cup in 2006 and had served as CEO for Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps track since 2016.