'He is fighting': Ferrari boss' rare update on Michael Schumacher

Jean Todt has revealed he visited Michael Schumacher last week in a rare update on the stricken Formula One legend’s condition.

Following a skiing accident on the French Alps in December 2013, Schumacher’s condition has been kept a closely-guarded secret from those outside his Lake Geneva home.

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But in a rare update, former Ferrari boss Todt says the Formula One hero is fighting to overcome the devastating injuries that have kept him out of public view for almost seven years.

FIA president Todt, 74, is among just a handful of visitors to see the 51-year-old Schumacher.

The Frenchman oversaw five of Schumacher’s seven titles as team principal for Ferrari.

On the eve of the Italian constructor’s 1000th race, Todt told the PA news agency: “I saw Michael last week. He is fighting.

“My God, we know he had a terrible and unfortunate skiing accident which has caused him a lot of problems.

“But he has an amazing wife next to him, he has his kids, his nurses, and we can only wish him the best and to wish the family the best, too.

“All I can do is to be close to them until I am able to do something, and then I will do it.”

Schumacher won 72 of his record 91 victories for Ferrari, and this weekend's race in Mugello is a landmark event for his former team.

Lewis Hamilton will move to within just one win of Schumacher’s all-time win tally if he triumphs at Ferrari’s home track on Sunday.

The 35-year-old British driver is also on course to match Schumacher’s record seven world titles this year.

Son to drive Schumacher’s 2004 Ferrari

Schumacher’s son Mick will drive his father’s 2004 Ferrari around the Mugello circuit on Sunday ahead of a Tuscan Grand Prix.

The car took German great Michael Schumacher to his record seventh and last world title.

Mick, a member of the Ferrari driver academy, is competing in Formula Two and won the feature race at Monza last weekend.

He also drove the F2004 at Hockenheim in 2019 ahead of the German Grand Prix.

Ferrari, the sport’s oldest and most successful team as well as the only one to have competed in every season since the first in 1950, will race in a special retro burgundy livery to mark their milestone.

The colour was used on the first racing car that used the Ferrari name, the 125S.

The Mugello circuit is owned by Ferrari and has never previously hosted an F1 race.

with agencies