Mystery shrouds Michael Schumacher and his condition after a skiing accident in 2013. Photo: Getty Images
It is a landmark of almost impossible gloom. December 29, 2023: The date marks 10 years since Michael Schumacher, the once insurmountable Formula 1 icon, hit his head on a rock while descending the Combe de Solire above Meribel. He has not been seen in public since then. All waves of public sympathy washed over the wall of omerta demanded by his wife Corinna. Thus, the end of this darkest decade will go unnoticed by his family, and their overwhelming silence will extinguish any hope of his recovery from his traumatic brain injury.
This secrecy only increased the disgusting fascination with his condition. Earlier this year, German women's weekly Die Aktuelle screamed on its cover: «Schumacher — first interview!» This seemed unlikely, given Corinna's scrupulous refusal since 2013 to shed light on Michael's health. Indeed, the supposed interview turned out to be created by artificial intelligence. The family threatened legal action, and the editor was fired.
But still the thirst for updates is insatiable. This week the headline in Bild reads: “New documentary about Schumi keeps fans guessing.” Attaching a blurry shot of Schumacher to the microphone, the author breathlessly asks: “When was this scene filmed? Do his supporters have any reason to hope?” Not on this evidence. Andreas Troll, director of the five-part ARD series that aired Thursday night, says the footage was filmed in 2012, a year before the fatal skiing accident.
Playing on people's morbid curiosity in this way can be unpleasant. But it raises an intriguing question: How do Schumacher's disciples, who numbered in the millions at his peak, mourn someone who is still alive but whom they will, in all likelihood, never see again? Willi Weber, his manager throughout all seven of his world title victories, struggled with this very dilemma. As a full-time driver's assistant, he found that his family's demands for confidentiality regarding medical details left him on the sidelines.
Schumacher together with Lewis Hamilton holds the record for the most Formula 1 world titles (seven) Photo: AP Photo/Luca Bruno
“I called the next day and no one answered,” Weber explained last year. “I did not expect this behavior and I am still angry with him. They didn’t let me in, they said: “It’s too early.” Well, now it's too late. Maybe they should just tell it like it is.”
However, he has softened recently, saying the stages of his grief over Schumacher have moved from anger to acceptance. “When I think about Michael now, unfortunately, I have no hope,” he said this month. “I cried like a dog after the accident. As you can imagine, this hit me incredibly hard. But the moment came when I had to free myself from Michael and let him go.”
There is a crushing pathos in Schumacher's fate. How could a man deriving oxygen from danger find his life ruined by an innocuous fall during a family ski trip? Yes, he went off-piste that morning in the French Alps, but he took much greater risks behind the wheel of his Ferrari at 200 mph. At 54, he should be enjoying the trappings of true greatness. Instead, he hides behind the gates of his huge home on the shores of Lake Geneva, receiving 24-hour care. If people are desperate for answers, it is because most cannot imagine such a mercilessly brutal end to a cult's career.
What can be said without guessing about Schumacher's current condition? One fair conclusion is that he is nonverbal. Confirmation is a comment from his son Mick, a Mercedes reserve driver, who mused during a Netflix documentary in 2021: “I think my dad and I would understand each other differently now if we spoke the same language, the language of motorsport.” and we will have something to talk about. I think about how great it would be, what it would be like. I would give anything to have this.”
Otherwise, Schumacher's rule of history seems to be: no news is bad news. Amid the frantic demand for information in those early days, Gary Hartstein, a former Formula One doctor, sought to become a voice of optimism, documenting all the signs and moments when a driver needed to show up to avoid the worst effects of neurological injury. But as Schumacher's time in a coma passed three months, he told fans to expect the worst.
After ten years, there was no need to revise this warning. Stefano Domenicali, Formula 1 CEO, says: “To live like this for 10 years is something you would never wish on your worst enemy.”
Schumacher and his wife Corinna skied regularly before the accident. Photo: Getty Images
“Keep fighting with Michael” is still the message you hear in Formula 1. No one understood this idea better than Schumacher himself, who said in 2007: “I have always believed that you should never, ever give up. You must always keep fighting, even when there is only the slightest chance.»
But the world he faces today is not one that can be conquered by tenacity or courage. He was simply the victim of a desperate misfortune that he could never have foreseen on that innocent morning in the mountains. That he must continue to live in the horrors of his shadow is a reality to which his family, and indeed everyone who cares about him, struggles to adapt.
Ralf Schumacher laments that he had lost more than just a brother. “When we were kids, he was also my coach and mentor,” he said. “He literally taught me everything about karting. Even though the age difference is seven years, he was always there for me. He passed on everything he had learned. He was very lucky throughout his life, but then a tragic accident happened. That day brought many failures. This fate changed our family.”
As Mick prepares to begin a new chapter in endurance racing, his sister has proven herself to be an accomplished rider. As for Corinna, Johnny Herbert, Schumacher's former teammate, said that «she does what Michael would want.» In such heartbreaking circumstances, pragmatism is the only possible response to pain.
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