Michael Schumacher, who is still on a long road to recovery after a freak ski accident two years ago, was remembered by fans and his fellow F1 racers during the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. Supporters harked back to his glory days as they filled social media with his photos and videos.
While there are hardly any updates about Schumacher's health, the prayers for the racing star's recovery are not slowing down. His fellow former racer and double world champion Mika Häkkinen urged his friend to keep fighting as he recalled the glorious racing moments they shared together.
"I hope and pray that those encouraging signs are continuing still. No, he will never race again; no, he may never walk again; he may never talk again, for all I know," he wrote in a McLaren blog post, recalling how he and Schumacher, who he called a "terrifically combative competitor," raced hard.
"You do not win seven world championships by being soft-hearted."
Häkkinen also hopes that Schumacher, as well as his loved ones and his fans, remain resilient in the fight to recovery, saying, "Miracles sometimes occur, and I for one dearly hope that a miracle occurs for Michael sometime soon."
Meanwhile, F1 racer Sebastian Vettel, who Schumacher mentored, recalls the moment he got to know the champion as a person and not as a racer.
"I was looking up to him and still I am in many ways," Vattel told New York Times. "But it was obviously a shift as soon as I got to know him, and you think more of the person rather than the racing driver and the success and the statistics."
He reminisced how their friendship started two years before the skiing accident and how Schumacher was always there to give an advice or two.
Schumacher sustained severe head injuries after a skiing accident in the French Alps last December 2013.
