‘Won’t see him again’: Heartbreaking Michael Schumacher update
F1 legend Michael Schumacher’s health remains under a cloud of secrecy, but one long-time friend has delivered an eye-opening admission.
Racing fans will never see Michael Schumacher again, one of his old friends has predicted.
Former Red Bull head of operations Richard Hopkins, who became friends with Schumacher during his racing days, also revealed who is still in the “inner circle” and visits the stricken star regularly.
The Formula 1 legend’s condition has been shrouded in total privacy since his devastating ski accident in 2013, and Hopkins doesn’t believe this will ever be lifted.
Schumacher, who won seven world championships, was put in a medically induced coma after almost dying in the catastrophic crash, and hasn’t been seen since.
Health updates have been virtually non-existent, but it’s widely believed the former racer is incapacitated and requires intense care from a team of medics.
“I haven’t heard anything recently. I understand he has a Finnish doctor, a personal doctor,” Hopkins said to SPORTbible.
“I don’t think we’ll see Michael again. I’m slightly uncomfortable talking about his condition because of how secretive, for the right reasons, the family wants to keep it.
“So I can make a remark, have an opinion, but I’m not in that inner circle.
“I’m not Jean Todt, I’m not Ross Brawn, I’m not Gerhard Berger, who visit Michael. I’m a long way from that.”
Hopkins first met Schumacher in the early 1990s while working as a mechanic at McLaren, when the German was driving for Benetton.
The pair grew close and shared regular coffee breaks around the paddock.
He was asked if he had any insight on Schumacher or whether he had spoken to those who have seen the legendary driver.
Hopkins added: “I can’t say I’m best friends with Jean Todt, or Ross, or Gerhard.
“I think even if you were Ross Brawn’s best friend, and you asked how well Michael was, and even if you plied Ross with a lot of good red wine, I don’t think he would open up and share.
“I think there is that respect with anybody who goes to visit Michael not to share anything.
“That’s the way the family wants it to be. I think that’s fair and respectful towards the family. Even if I did know, the family would be disappointed if I shared anyway.”
Michael’s wife Corinna, 56, is believed to be heavily involved in looking after him – but fiercely guards her husband’s privacy.
Most of their time is spent in a mansion on the shore of Lake Geneva, Switzerland, though they also spend time at other properties including a secluded hideaway on the Spanish holiday island of Majorca.
Meanwhile, Hopkins recently opened up on his relationship with Schumacher and gave an insight into his character.
Speaking to The Sun last month, he said: “When you look at all the elements that make a world champion, he had them all – even the ones that weren’t always positive.”
He said the driver was arrogant and wore his heart on his sleeve when it came to Formula One, but his best qualities really shone through when he was at home with his wife and kids.
Craig Scarborough, who has been covering the sport for around 25 years and interviewed Michael many times, made prediction similar to Hopkins’s earlier this year.
He told The Sun: “I spoke to someone who is very, very close to him and they just explained we’re not going to hear any more from him.
“He’s in a comfortable position as far as he can be with his state of health.”
On top of Michael’s tricky health picture, the family has had to deal with a malicious blackmail plot by a gang who threatened to sell deeply private pictures of the stricken driver.
Three people were found guilty earlier this year of using the stolen photos in an attempt to blackmail $A26 million, and the case was back in court this month as the Schumacher family sought harsher sentences.
More than 900 photographs, almost 600 videos, and medical records of the racing icon after his catastrophic 2013 ski crash, were smuggled out of the house.
The data was on two hard drives and four USBs.
Cops seized all of them except for one hard drive, which has never been recovered.
Prosecutors say they still do not know whether the missing drive was destroyed, sold or hidden – and cannot confirm whether anyone else holds copies of the stolen images.
Markus Fritsche, who used to work in the family home, passed the hard drives to Yilmaz Tozturkan, 53, and his 30-year-old son.
Tozturkan then threatened the family with releasing everything on the dark web unless they paid the full €15m (£12.8m) ransom.
Fritsche was given a two-year suspended sentence, which the Schumachers have slammed as “disgracefully lenient”.
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Tozturkan admitted the extortion attempt and was jailed for three years for attempted blackmail at the original trial.
His son Daniel Lins, who helped set up the email accounts used to contact the family, received only a six-month suspended sentence and a fine.
This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission.
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