News regarding the health condition of Formula One legend Michael Schumacher has been scarce. However, fans have been given some assurance courtesy of Schumacher's former boss at Ferrari, Jean Todt, who revealed that the racer is still in the process of recovery.
The racing legend was among those honored during the launch of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) Hall of Fame in Paris this week. Todt, who is currently the FIA president, opened up regarding Schumacher's condition. He said that his absence from the opening was felt by everyone who was in attendance. Todt proceeded to share that they all miss him and that he is still fighting to recover.
Schumacher was one of the racers that were inducted into the FIA Hall of Fame. Alongside him were 32 other racing champions like Sebastian Vettel, Damon Hill and Jackie Stewart.
Seeing as Schumacher was unable to attend, his family was instead represented by his manager Sabine Kehm. Todt expressed how happy he was to have Kehm around to represent the Schumacher family.
"I wanted [Schumacher's son] Mick to come tonight but he's doing some testing in Spain and [Schumacher's wife] Corinna is in the States. A fight is going on. Michael is someone very special, someone special for motorspot. He's special to me, he's a friend," said Todt.
Kehm delivered a speech upon the racer's induction into the Hall of Fame. She shared that Schumacher would have loved to attend the opening and that he always had tremendous respect for everyone in attendance. Schumacher's manager added that the racer would be very honored to be among his colleagues.
To Kehm, and perhaps to everyone else who was around, what made Schumacher a special person and why he is as successful as he is today, is because of his love for the sport.
Todt also recalled a moment back in 2000 when the seven-time F1 champion privately asked him if he could do some testing in Fioranto during the winter after he won the F1 title. He recalled that Schumacher was quite a shy person despite looking very confident.
Todt and Kehm are not the only ones who have opened up about Schumacher. Vettel, a good friend of the former racer, also expressed how much he missed him. Speaking to the Swiss German-language tabloid Blick via Express, Vettel was asked how he is able to handle very traumatic events, like with what happened to Schumacher.
Vettel was a little surprised that it has been quite a while since Schumacher's horrific accident, which happened back in 2013. He explained that everyone in Formula One is constantly taught to look ahead or move forward to the next race and the race after that, perhaps without knowing how much time has passed.
Regarding his friend, Vettel shared that they still miss him.
"Of course, Michael is still missed by Formula One. And especially we at Ferrari would be happy if he could stand by our side with advice in the race for the world title" said Vettel.
Schumacher suffered a severe head injury while skiing on the French Alps in December 2013. He was placed in a medically induced coma and underwent two operations at Grenoble Hospital. By April 2014, the former racer was moved to a hospital in Lausanne, Switzerland, before being brought home in September to recover.
