A decade since his life-changing ski accident, the health of Michael Schumacher remains a guarded secret (2024)

It has been a decade since one of sports' greatest champions endured a life-altering accident which has kept him from public life.

Michael Schumacher, seven-time Formula 1 world champion, was involved in a skiing accident on December 29, 2013, sustaining injuries from which it is assumed he has not fully recovered.

The story of Schumacher and injury is not fully known, with his family electing to keep the German's private life well out of public view.

It has led to speculation, rumour and questionable media tactics as many clamour for a sliver of information on the legend's health.

Ten years on, this is what we know about Schumacher's accident and what followed over the next decade.

Michael falls while skiing with son Mick

Schumacher was skiing in the French town ofMeribel with his son Mick — who would go on to race in Formula 1 for two seasons with Haas.

The German legend, an experienced skier, fell after he went off piste (a skiing term for travelling off the cleared path) and hit his head on a rock.

Schumacher was airlifted to a hospital in Grenoble as reports surfaced the F1 legend — who finished his career in 2012 with Mercedes — was in a serious condition.

Fans stood outside the Grenoble hospital waiting for any news on Michael, such was the gravitas of the man.

Schumacher was in a coma for six months, during which very little information was given.

Felix Damm, the Schumacher's family lawyer for 15 years, recalled to German legal publication LTO in October this year the initial aftermath of the accident and the pressure for information.

"With the accident, the media pressure has of course changed dramatically. I still have the image in my head of the numerous journalists and photographers who waited for information outside the hospital in Grenoble for days after the accident," Mr Damm said.

"In order to take the pressure off, initial general information about the injuries was given in press meetings at which the treating doctors were also present."

Schumacher was taken back to his home in Switzerland, where he was kept out of the limelight as speculation grew about his condition.

Family keeps Schumacher out of the public eye

Schumacher has not been publicly seen since his fall, with a select few close friends and family knowing intimate details of his condition.

His wife,Corinna Schumacher, has kept the family's circle tight-knit.

French doctor Jean-Francois Payen, who cared for Schumacher after his fall, spoke in 2014 of Corinna's tireless work for her husband in the months following the accident.

"He is in very favourable conditions. His wife is surrounded by excellent advice and has put everything needed in place so that he can advance," he said.

"It is someone very linked to Michael, but who has a lucidity and a desire to make him advance which is an extraordinary point.

"For years she will do this same work. She is a very good person."

And for years, Corinna Schumacher has done just that.

Details on Schumacher's condition are scarce at best.

Those outside of his immediate family who do know his condition have also kept their cards close to their chest.

Former F1 driver Philippe Streiff, a friend of Schumacher's who is himself quadriplegic following a racing accident, said 11 months after the accident that Schumacher was in a wheelchair.

"He is getting better but everything is relative. It's very difficult. He can't speak," he said.

"Like me, he is in a wheelchair, paralysed. He has memory problems and speech problems."

In 2016,Schumacher's manager Sabine Kehm provided an update saying: "We're glad to be able to continue to say that he is making progress, as I always say, given the severity of his head injuries."

Later that same year, former Ferrari chief Luca de Montezemolo painted a less rosy picture for the F1 legend.

"I get news about him constantly, and unfortunately it's not good," he said.

'No longer the Michael we knew in F1'

Ms Schumacher spoke about her husband's condition in the 2021 Netflix documentary Schumacher, where she said the family was "getting on with our lives".

It was one of the few glimpses people were given into what the racing star's life is like now.

"We live together at home. We do therapy. We do everything we can to make Michael better and to make sure he's comfortable, and to simply make him feel our family, our bond," Corinna said.

"We're trying to carry on as a family, the way Michael liked it and still does. And we are getting on with our lives."

Former Ferrari and FIA boss Jean Todt, a close friend of Schumacher, was recently quoted in French media saying the legend's life is very different to what it once was.

"He is no longer the Michael from before," he told French publication L'Equipe.

"He is different and is beautifully framed by his wife and children who protect him.

"His life is different and I have the privilege of being able to share moments with him. That's all there is to say.

"Unfortunately, fate struck him 10 years ago and he is no longer the Michael we knew in F1."

Die Aktuelle uses AI to claim interview with Schumacher

With a lack of information, coupled with a desire to know as much as possible about Schumacher's condition, speculation has been rife for a decade.

Several publications in Europe have tried to find out more than what had been told, and the clamour for Schumacher content has led to some questionable tactics.

"I was amazed at how much the media reports even though there is no reliable information; how much you can knit supposed stories from zero information," Mr Damm told LTO.

"As a result, it has gone so far that [now publishers] simply invented an AI-generated interview and put it on the front page."

The AI-generated interview is a reference to an article published by German outletDie Aktuelle, owned by the Essen-based Funke media group.

Die Aktuelle ran a front cover in 2023 with a picture of a smiling Schumacher with the headline promising, Michael Schumacher, the first interview.

The quotes from Schumacher were AI-generated, leading to a major backlash and an apology,editor-in-chief Anne Hoffmann was dismissed, and the Schumacher family considered legal action.

"After the accident was processed editorially, there was speculation about the consequences of the accident, about therapeutic measures and health developments, and alleged travel activities," Mr Damm said of the Schumacher media coverage.

"Afterwards the press … without having had any knowledge of the actual circ*mstances, formulated assessments based on remote diagnostics."

Schumacher's Formula 1 statistics

• World championships — 7 (record since equalled by Lewis Hamilton)
• Wins — 91 (then record since surpassed by Lewis Hamilton)
• Pole positions — 68(then record since surpassed by Lewis Hamilton)
• Podium finishes — 155(then record since surpassed by Lewis Hamilton)
• Fastest laps — 77 (record)
• Finished every race of a season (2002) on the podium (only driver to achieve this feat)