Michael Schumacher on the mend

FIA chief Jean Todt has provided a rare insight into the health of history’s most successful Formula 1 driver, Michael Schumacher.

The seven-times F1 world champion was placed in a medically-induced coma following severe head injuries sustained in a skiing accident in the French Alps in December 2013.

Schumacher, who turned 50 on January 3, emerged from his coma in June 2014 at a Grenoble hospital, which reportedly removed blood clots in his brain but left others alone because they were too deeply embedded.

He received further rehabilitation in a Lausanne hospital before being relocated to his home in Switzerland later that year, but has reportedly been unable to walk or stand since then.

Now his former boss at Ferrari and one of his closest friends has provided a rare update on the F1 legend’s recovery during an interview with Radio Monte-Carlo.

“I’m always careful with such statements, but it’s true. I saw the [German GP] race together with Michael Schumacher at his home in Switzerland,” he said.

“Michael is in the best hands and is well looked after in his house. He does not give up and keeps fighting.”

Todt declined to provide further details about the health of Schumacher out of respect for his family, but said he was saddened by his continued struggle to communicate.

“His family is fighting just as much and of course our friendship cannot be the same as it once was, just because there’s no longer the same communication as before,” he told Radio Monte-Carlo.

“He continues to fight. And his family is fighting the same way.”

Todt and F1’s managing director Ross Brawn, who worked with Schumacher on all seven of his F1 titles, remain close friends with Schumacher and continue to spend time with him, but the FIA boss stressed the importance of his family’s right to privacy.

“It’s something very private,” said Todt, adding that Schumacher is being “very well taken care of; he lives with his family in his house between Geneva and Lausanne.

“In the end, only positive thoughts help him. I and his whole family are positive in the mental sense, despite the circumstances.”

An official documentary film produced with the blessing of his family, titled ‘Schumacher’, will be released later this year. It will feature rare interviews with his dad Rolf, wife Corinna, kids Gina and Mick, and a host of others who raced or worked with him in his long career.

Schumacher’s 19-year-old son Mick completed demonstration laps in one of his father’s title-winning Ferraris at last weekend’s German GP and is currently contesting F2 with Ferrari’s junior academy.