The 55-year-old sustained life-changing injuries following an accident during a ski holiday in 2013. Schumacher was with his son Mick, who was 14 at the time, when he travelled across an off-piste area of the slope.
Schumacher has not been pictured since but the family has been left fearing a photo leak. A trial is underway this week as a former member of his security team (plus two other suspects) are accused of a £12 million blackmail plot.
Former bodyguard Markus Fritsche is accused of stealing approximately 1,500 images and 200 videos, with prosecutors claiming the materials contained classified medical documents and information about the star’s health.
Schumacher’s wife, Corinna, previously opened up about his condition in a Netflix documentary.
Released back in 2021, Schumacher, traces an ‘intimate portrait’ of the seven-time F1 champion using archival footage and interviews.
Married to the legend since 1995, Corinna explained that her husband is ‘different’ but ‘he’s here’ and that gives the family ‘strength’.
“We’re together. 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,” she said.
Corinna went on to explain how they are all ‘trying to carry on as a family’ in the way that Schumacher ‘liked it and still does’.
She also delved further into the family’s decision to keep everything as private as possible, with little known by the public about the star’s condition since his accident.
“‘Private is private’, as he always said. It’s very important to me that he can continue to enjoy his private life as much as possible,” Corinna explained.
“Michael always protected us and now we are protecting Michael.”
Threatening that privacy, prosecutors in Germany say Fritsche violated ‘the most personal sphere of life’ of Schumacher.
It is alleged the men accused got in touch with his family and told them they would share the materials on two USB drives to the dark web if they did not receive a ransom of £12m.
The Ferrari legend was left in a critical condition following a skiing accident in the French Alps on 29 December, 2013.
Aged 44 at the time, Schumacher fell and hit his head against a rock while wearing a helmet.
After suffering serious brain trauma, he was put in a medically-induced coma and eventually left hospital the following year when he was brought back to consciousness.
Since the incident, the now 55 year-old has lived an intensely private life which was allegedly about to be uncovered by his former bodyguard, Markus Fritsche.
Fritsche, 53, has been accused of stealing photographs and videos in a £12 million blackmail scheme.
He allegedly stole approximately 900 photos and 600 containing classified medical documents and information about Schumacher’s health, according to prosecutors.
The three accused men – including friend Yilmaz Tozturkan, 53, and Tozturkan’s son Daniel Lins, 30 – appeared at Wuppertal District Court on 10 December.
Corinna Schumacher, the wife of the seven-time world champion, reportedly filed a motion to prevent the public from learning of details surrounding her husband’s health during the trial.
She wants to ‘exclude the public from the trial’, according to German News outlet BILD.
This comes after nightclub bouncer, Tozturkan, told the court, according to the Mail: “Fritsche and I have known each other for a long time. We keep in contact, and we met for a coffee.
“He said that he was in possession of this material, and he asked if we could do anything with it. I said: ‘I will ask but we will definitely be able to do something’.
“I was given two hard drives, one was black, and the other was blue.
“For the most part I admit everything, but I didn’t buy the pictures.
“I was going to try and sell them first but when I didn’t get any interest that’s when I contacted the Schumacher family.
“My son only helped by providing me with an email address, that’s it. He didn’t know anything about the blackmail.”
“The data that was accessed here is extremely sensitive,” the senior public prosecutor said before the trial began.
“The Schumacher family has a great public interest in not revealing the health of Mr. Michael Schumacher. The data that we have found provides considerable information about precisely this situation.”
On 29 December, 2013 Schumacher and his son had been skiing in the French Alps when he fell and hit his head, cracking his safety helmet.
Since then he’s been recovering at his home with his family, who have kept details about his condition sparse.
A family lawyer had previously said that a health report about Schumacher’s condition was not made public in order to protect ‘private matters’.
Felix Damm said a final report was considered, but not released to the public as that would not have been the end of interest in his recovery, and there would have been subsequent request for updates anyway.
Friends and family have spoken about Schumacher’s condition from time to time following his accident.
In Netflix documentary Schumacher his wife Corrina said: “I mean, everybody misses Michael, but Michael is here.
“Different, but he’s here and that gives us strength, I find. We try to carry on a family as Michael liked it and still does. And we are getting on with our lives.
“‘Private is private’, as he always said. It is very important to me that he can continue to enjoy his private life as much as possible.”
His brother and former fellow F1 driver Ralf said he missed ‘the Michael of the old days’, and even though ‘nothing is like it used to be’ he did add that ‘advanced medical science provides many opportunities’.
Ralf said the accident had ‘changed’ the family, and said it had been a ‘significant experience’ for everyone but particularly Michael and Corrina’s children.
Michael’s son Mick, who has followed his father into motorsports, posted a tribute to his dad where he said he thought his father would understand him differently now he’s gone into racing.
Schumacher’s friend and former Ferrari boss Jean Todt is one of his regular visitors and said they had been able to watch F1 together.
“I don’t miss Michael, I see him. Yes, it’s true, I watch races with Michael. But sure, I guess what I miss is what we used to do together,” Todt said of his friend.
The full extent of the 54-year-old’s condition may not be entirely clear, but that information belongs to his closest family and friends.
When you speak about legends in Formula One, Schumacher has to be in the conversation having won the joint-most Drivers’ Championships at seven, which is only matched by Lewis Hamilton.
Best known for his time at Ferrari, he also holds the record of most consecutive title wins at five, from 2000-2004 – the German was a true trailblazer for the sport.
Having retired in 2006 before making a return in 2010 and calling it a day in 2012, Schumacher suffered a horrific injury just one year after ending his career.
He then fell and hit his head on a boulder that was concealed from view by snowfall, which would have been fatal if he wasn’t wearing a helmet.
The then-44-year-old still suffered critical head injuries and was airlifted to hospital, where he was put in a medically-induced coma due to the traumatic brain injury he sustained, only leaving to go home nine months after the accident.
Ever since this incident, the former F1 champion has been completely out of the public eye, while a statement released the following year informed fans that he wasn’t in a coma anymore, and was instead ‘continuing a long phase of rehabilitation’, though little of his condition is known 11 years on.
His family have kept details of his health private, as updates have remained scarce.
Schumacher’s agent Sabine Kehm said the family was ‘forced’ to deny reports that the German could move again, and released a statement, saying that these claims were ‘not true’, adding: “Such speculation is irresponsible, because given the seriousness of his injuries, his privacy is very important.
“Unfortunately they also give false hopes to many involved people.”
Former Formula 1 Benetton team boss Flavio Briatore’s ex-wife, Elisabetta Gregoraci previously revealed how the ex-racer communicates without speaking: “Michael doesn’t speak, he communicates with his eyes,
“Only three people can visit him and I know who they are.
“They moved to Spain and his wife has set up a hospital in that house.”
It was reported in 2020 that Schumacher had been moved to the south-west of Majorca from his family’s previous Swiss home.
Speaking to L’Equipe, former Ferrari boss Jean Todt stated that the seven-time world champion was being ‘wonderfully guided by his wife and children who protect him’, adding: “His life is different now and I have the privilege of sharing moments with him. That’s all there is to say.”
In a 2021 Netflix documentary about his life, his son Mick said: “I think dad and me, we would understand each other now in a different way now.”
On 29 December, 2013, Schumacher was airlifted to hospital and placed in a medically induced coma after he sustained a horrific head injury while skiing in the French Alps with his son Mick.
The accident marked the end of his life in the spotlight and the racing icon hasn’t been seen in public for over a decade.
His nearest and dearest have only shared updates on his health a handful of times, with his wife Corinna explaining that they are trying to ‘carry on as a family as Michael liked it, and still does’.
In the 2021 Netflix documentary Schumacher, she said: “And we are getting on with our lives. ‘Private is private’, as he always said. It is very important to me that he can continue to enjoy his private life as much as possible.”
Ex-Ferrari boss Jean Todt is one of the few people outside of blood relatives who has access to Schumacher, as he previously revealed he visits the star twice a month and watches races with him.
It’s clear that the skiing incident transformed the racing driver’s life dramatically, as well as his family’s.
Schumacher’s pal, Norbert Haug, has now opened up about how he struggled to understand how Schumacher ended up sustaining grave head injuries while skiing off-piste and wearing a protective helmet – which cracked on impact.
But according to the former Mercedes chief, the German racing ace would always play it safe on the slopes.
Haug told news outlet Bild: “Of course, it’s a shame what happened on a really harmless ski trip. I can promise that Michael was not a risk-taking skier.
“He was particularly careful when skiing and, in my opinion, had things under control very, very well. That was a real misfortune. Unfortunately, unfortunately.”
The 71-year-old then discussed the cherished memories he shared with Schumacher, as well as how they went from ‘fierce rivals’ to fast friends.
Haug continued: “There are so many beautiful memories, so many private and human ones away from the racetrack.
“Michael was always really tough on the track, but really friendly and funny off the track and also liked to party. I have wonderful memories of him.”
He also heaped praise on Schumacher’s wife for taking charge of his care, saying that he has the ‘greatest respect’ for Corinna and that ‘there are no words’ to describe what she has done for her spouse.
Haug added that he stays in close contact with the F1 icon’s manager, Sabine Kehm, to keep tabs on his condition.
He said: “If anything should happen, we know we can contact each other. But I clearly also want to respect privacy. And Corinna does it as well as one can do in such a very difficult situation. Totally, totally admirable.”
