Michael Schumacher’s former Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo has said the “news isn’t good” about the health of the stricken Formula One champion.
It is more than two years since Schumacher, the seven-time champion, sustained horrific brain injuries in a freak accident while skiing in the French Alps.
But Di Montezemolo, who as the president of Ferrari oversaw Schumacher’s unprecedented success, has provided a bleak outlook regarding his former driver.
"I'm always checking up on him, and unfortunately the news isn't good," Di Montezemolo is quoted as saying in Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“He was a great driver and we shared a great personal and professional relationship, we also had the pleasure of having our children at similar times.
“Unfortunately a fall while skiing, an accident, has broken him.”
Schumacher, who won a record 91 races during his glittering grand prix career, spent nearly six months in an induced coma before he was transferred to a hospital closer to his family home in Lausanne, Switzerland.
He was released from hospital in September 2014 and now continues his rehabilitation at home, but updates on his condition have been few and far between.
Di Montezemolo, who was speaking in Milan on Thursday, recalled the British Grand Prix in 1999 where Schumacher suffered a broken leg in a high-speed crash following a rear-brake failure.
“Life is really strange,” Di Montezemolo added. “He was the most successful driver with Ferrari, he had a single serious accident in his career in 1999 and that was our fault, not his.”
The last update regarding Schumacher’s condition came at the Mexican Grand Prix in November.
Jean Todt, the FIA president and former Ferrari team principal, said: "I see Michael very often and Michael is still fighting.
“Michael is a close friend, his family is very close to me and I am very close to them as well. We must keep him fighting with the family.”
Schumacher won his first championship in 1994 with Benetton before retaining his title in the ensuing campaign. The German then moved to Ferrari, where he went on to win five successive titles before calling time on his career in 2006.
The German returned to the grid with Mercedes in 2009 but endured a largely disappointing three-season spell with a best finish of third at the 2012 European Grand Prix in Valencia.
