Family of Michael Schumacher 'go their own way' as brother Ralf speaks out
Michael Schumacher's brother Ralf bemoaned how "unfair" life is as he spoke about his relationship with the stricken Formula 1 star's immediate family.
Michael, a seven-time F1 world champion, suffered life-changing injuries in a skiing accident in the French Alps in December 2013. He survived but has lived out of the public eye ever since with his loving wife Corinna fiercely protective of his privacy.
As a result, despite almost a decade having passed, updates have been few and far between. Schumacher is cared for at the family's Lake Geneva home and only immediate family, trusted close friends and medical staff know details of his condition.
Ralf Schumacher, himself a former F1 racer, will be one of those trusted with such information. And he declined to give too much away when asked about his brother in a new interview with German magazine Bunte.
But he did speak briefly about his brother's children, hinting at his own relationship with them. "Unfortunately, sometimes life isn't fair. We have to accept it," he said of the tragic twist in Michael's life. "When I see his children Gina-Maria and Mick, my heart smiles. If someone in the family is looking for my advice, I'm there. They go their own way."
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Mick, a reserve driver for Mercedes this year, having driven in F1 for two years with Haas, has previously said how much he would love to be able to call upon his father's wisdom and expertise when it comes to his own racing career.
"I think dad and me, we would understand each other in a different way now," he said. "Simply because we speak a similar language, the language of motorsport. And that we would have so much more to talk about.
"That's where my head is most of the time. Thinking that it would be cool that would be. I would give up everything just for that."
The privacy that Schumacher's family want has been enforced by lawyer Felix Damm for many years. Last month he explained why a report into the F1 legend's health after his crash was never made public. "It was always about protecting private things," he said.
"Of course, we discussed a lot about how this is possible. So we also considered whether a final report about Michael's health could be the right way to do this. But that wouldn't have been the end of it and there would have had to be constantly updated 'water level reports'. Because as those affected, it is not up to you to put an end to the media.
"They could pick up on such a report again and again and ask, 'And what does it look like now?' one, two, three months or years after the message. And if we then wanted to take action against this reporting, we would have to deal with the argument of voluntary self-disclosure."
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