Michael Schumacher ‘making progress’, says manager

The German suffered severe head injuries in a ski accident in Meribel in the French Alps in December 2013.

Schumacher spent months in a coma following the accident before being transferred to a rehab clinic in Lausanne, Switzerland. He was then moved to a medical suite built into his mansion in September last year.

“He is making progress,” manager Sabine Kehm told Sport-Informations-Dienst before warning that people “must always keep the seriousness of his injuries in mind”.

His family are said to be spending £100,000-a-week on his healthcare.

Updates on Schumacher’s health have been scarce but the latest prognosis is much more positive.

In November, ex-F1 driver and close friend, Philippe Streiff, had revealed that Schumacher’s condition remained grave.

Speaking to French radio, he said: “He is getting better but everything is relative. It’s very difficult. He can’t speak," said Streiff, who was himself left paralysed after a crash in 1989.

“Like me he is in a wheelchair, paralysed. He has memory problems and speech problems.”

Also speaking in November, Jean-Francois Payen, one of the doctors who had been treating Schumacher, said that he may take years to recover.

“I have noticed some progress but I would say we will have to give him time,” Payen said.

“It is like for other patients. We are in a time scale of one to three years, so you need patience.”

However, FIA president Jean Todt claimed that he expected the seven-times F1 champion to “live a relatively normal life” following his return home, whilst his son Mick said in October that his father was “waking up very slowly.”

He won a record seven world titles and 91 races during a stellar Formula One career.