AS ONE of the greatest race car drivers of all time Michael Schumacher could’ve had his pick of friends – from fellow F1 legends to the rich and famous outside of Motorsports.
But after his tragic ski accident that left him fighting for his life the iconic German’s friendship group has been trimmed down as his family continue to keep his health a secret and his inner circle small.
As an accomplished skier, the retired seven-times world champion, and his then 14-year-old son set off on the Combe de Saulire ski run in the exclusive French resort of Meribel, exactly a decade ago.
Footage from his helmet camera revealed he was not travelling at excessive speed when his skis struck a rock hidden beneath the snow.
He catapulted forward 11.5ft and crashed into a boulder head first that split his helmet into two and left him needing to be airlifted to hospital for two life-saving operations.
Doctors later said the headgear is the only reason he’s still alive.
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Michael was then placed in a medically induced coma to try to reduce the swelling and in the decade since the F1 superstar has never been seen in public and health updates have been very rare.
This sparked a whole host of unanswered questions from friends, fans and fellow drivers that his family refused to comment on.
Since 2013, his wife Corinna has been creating a private world around Michael as he continues his recovery – including forming a tight knit group of people allowed to see the great man and those who can’t.
Corinna has cut out certain people for a plethora or reasons including keeping the families privacy a priority and for the sake of Schuey.
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Michael’s wife – who he described as his “guardian angel” – has done her best to keep their life private including reportedly slimming down his £500m business empire and selling prized assets such as his private jet and Norwegian home.
She has even converted part of their £50million home into a hospital where 15 doctors and a team of masseurs give him 24-hour care and the surrounding forest and security fences kept him away from anyone not welcome.
Jean Todt
The ex-F1 boss has been close to Michael for over 30 years and is one of the only people outside of his family who has publicly spoken about the Germans well being and what he gets up to these days.
Todt, 77, spoke about the pairs relationship in an interview with German TV channel RTL.
He revealed that he and Michael watch F1 races together when Jean visits the seven-time world champion at his Geneva home.
The two have been meeting up around once a month since the accident with Jean even saying “his family are my family”.
Schumacher’s former boss at Ferrari said: “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.”
“Him, Corinna, the family, we’ve had so many experiences together. The beauty of what we have experienced is part of us and it goes on.
“Sometimes success and money changes you. But Michael has never changed. He’s so strong.”
Jean first met Michael when he took the already two time champion under his wing at the “The Prancing Horse” and helped him win five consecutive world titles between 2000 to 2004.
Since the accident Jean has always been adamant that the Schumacher family should be left alone and not made to discuss Michael.
Sabine Kehm
Sabine Kehm was a relatively unknown journalist before her first interview with the Michael when she was just a 29-year-old.
Six years later, Sabine was invited into the inner circle of everything Schumacher when she accepted an offer to become his press officer.
The 59-year-old has been in this coveted role for over 13 years now and later became his manager as in that time the pair struck up a brilliant relationship.
Sabine became responsible for keeping Schumacher’s life in check and helping the very busy man stay organised.
She was tasked with buying birthday presents for members of his team when he was at Ferrari and making sure he did enough media to keep sponsors and fans happy but not enough to annoy Michael.
Kehm remembers a conversation she had with him when they first grew close and it’s something that’s stuck with her even after the accident.
She said: “Once in a long discussion Michael said to me: ‘You don’t need to call me for the next year, I’m disappearing.’
“I think it was his secret dream to be able to do that some day.
“That’s why now I still want to protect his wishes in that I don’t let anything get out.”
Sabine is seen as one of the most powerful members of the inner circle as she was with Michael more than most during his career.
She kept on top of the press and tried her best to keep them in line with whatever Michael did and didn’t want to do.
Even after his accident, when people were desperate to see him and know what condition he was in Kehm made sure anything the family wanted to keep private remained a secret.
Luca Badoer
Ex-Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer and Schumacher’s careers first crossed paths when the pair were at the Italian giants together.
Michael was the best driver in the world for a long period of time during his time at Ferrari and the whole time Badoer played a pivotal role in helping the team achieve such great success by testing the car.
But since then – back in the late 90s – the pair have stayed in contact.
Badoer revealed a few years ago that he visits the great driver regularly and is welcomed in by the family.
He also noted that the family want to keep some things a complete secret and he will “respect their will largely”.
He continued: “I do not even want to talk about this, because I’ve never talked about it, just because the family does not want to.
“The visits to him are really granted to a few people, at the behest of Corinna. We respect what they want, and there is no need to make controversy.”
Schumacher’s previous health leaks
The Schumacher family has faced several other issues with keeping their father and husband’s life as secretive as possible.
A legal battle in 2016 was waged after German magazine Bunte reported the racing legend “could walk”.
The court case led to a few small pieces of information being revealed, with Schumacher’s lawyers confirming he still couldn’t walk.
Corinna also reportedly led the effort to hide a ghoulish photo of the F1 legend that was reportedly snapped and then smuggled out by a “friend” and offered around to news outlets for a whopping £1million.
German prosecutors called the disgusting act a “violation of his personal range of life” and breach of privacy.
Corinna reportedly demanded the cops take action, but the media outlet refused to reveal its source – and also claimed it never saw any of the images of Schumacher.
Rubens Barrichello
Despite being teammates for the most successful period of Michael’s career between the glory years of 2000 to 2005 Barrichello has been banned from seeing the superstar.
In an interview on Brazilian TV network Globo, Barrichello said: “I tried to find a way to visit him, but they said to me: ‘It will not do you or him any good’.”
Barrichello has been critical of the way he felt he was treated during his time at Ferrari by the team and Michael and voiced his feelings to the media.
He said the lead driver was “was never supportive” and “never there to offer help”.
The Brazilian said he ended up feeling like the team was made for Schumacher only and not for himself at all.
During his time at Williams Racing, Barrichello also screamed that Schumacher “tried to kill him” and nearly “sending him to heaven” in a 200 mph horror move during the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Willi Weber
One of the biggest exclusions from Corinna’s inner circle is the man who is often credited with discovering Schumacher and kick starting his near perfect career.
Willi Weber, 81, was the long-term manager of the F1 champion, but after being barred from seeing Michael he now fears he’ll never see his former protégé ever again.
Weber recently revealed that he had received “no positive news” after allegedly being shut out of the racing star’s life for the last 10 years.
He told the Cologne Express: “When I think of Michael now, unfortunately I don’t have anymore hope that I will see him again.
“No positive news after ten years.”
He also recalled how gutted he felt about not being able to see the man he once said was like a son to him immediately after the accident.
“Of course, I regret that very much and blame myself. I should have visited Michael in the hospital. I mourned like a dog after his accident.”
Much like Barrichello – Weber has been critical in the press about the family extraordinarily accusing them of not being honest to the public about the Schumacher’s condition.
He said: “I find it very unfortunate that Michael’s fans do not know about his health. Why are they not being told the truth?”
And in July last year, Weber once again made headlines by demanding that the Schumacher family come out with the truth about his health.
He said he was still “angry” that he had not been kept informed once since the F1 legend’s ski accident.
He told Italian sports publication La Gazetta dello Sport: “I tried hundreds of times to contact Corinna and she didn’t answer.
“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.”
Eddie Jordan
The famed founder of Jordan Grand Prix was apparently blocked after putting in a request to visit Michael and see how he was.
Jordan told the Irish Daily Mirror: “So, there was connection and I reached out and one stage asked was it appropriate and did I think we should go and visit him.
“The answer was no. No visitations for anyone at that moment except the actual direct family.”
Jordan has since stayed in contact with Michael’s famous son Mick who Jordan labelled as “extraordinary”, but still hasn’t met the slowly recovering Schumacher.
The former F1 boss, gave Schumacher his big break in motor racing back in 1991, and considered himself a good friend of Michael’s.
He continued: “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.
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“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’.”
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
