Michael Schumacher’s life was changed after a horrific ski accident in 2013 left him with a near-fatal head injury, and the former F1 champion hasn’t been seen in public since the incident while in recovery.
However, his former teammate, Johnny Herbert, has recently opened up about Michael’s condition, admitting that he is "not close" to his former self, and that his injuries have had a major impact on his brother, Ralf.
Speaking to Grosvenor Sport, he said: "When Ralf Schumacher was with Sky Germany we often met. Ralf has had to do a lot of things for and with the family given what happened to Michael. He has matured. He is very different now from the person he was as a driver. He is a good human being now. He has changed a lot having had to cope with the ongoing situation with his brother."
Speaking about Michael’s condition, he added: "There's never any news. What we do know is we never hear any positive news. That's the horrible thought that he is still not able to be close to the Michael that we all remember. And that is very sad."
Michael’s wife Corinna keeps her husband’s recovery under wraps, and very rarely speaks about his condition publicly. For a Netflix documentary, Schumacher, back in 2021, she explained: "I just felt that he is somebody special. I think that he is simply very strong mentally. Extremely strong. He still shows me how strong he is every day… I miss Michael every day. But it's not just me who misses him. It's the children, the family, his father, everyone around him. Everybody misses Michael, but Michael is here - different, but here."
Michael’s friend Eddie Jordan also previously opened up about the situation to The Sun, speaking: "It's been nearly ten years now and Corinna has not been able to go to a party, to lunch or this or that, she's like a prisoner because everyone would want to talk to her about Michael when she doesn't need reminding of it every minute."
He added: "[Corinna] has set out some rules, I know her very well and a long time before Michael Schumacher. She's a lovely girl… I made an effort to go see Michael in the early days and Corinna refused, and rightfully so because too many people wanted to go see him… Jean Todt was given the privilege to go see him because of how close they were from their time together at Ferrari which is completely understandable. I was not able to go see Michael and they said, 'We love you Eddie and we've been involved with you for a very long time, but we do need privacy and safeguard of Michael.'"
Michael’s former manager admitted that he was "still angry" about similarly being unable to visit, telling Gazzetta dello Sport: "I tried hundreds of times to contact [his wife] Corinna and she didn't answer. I called Jean Todt to ask him if I should go to the hospital and he told me to wait – 'it’s too early'… I called the next day, and no one answered. I didn't expect behaviour like that and I'm still angry about it. They kept me out, telling me, 'It's too early', well, now it's too late. It's been nine years. Maybe they should just say it the way it is."