29 December 2023 , 13:41
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Sebastian Vettel has revealed the last conversation he had with friend and countrymate Michael Schumacher, 10 years on from the Formula 1 legend's life-changing accident.
Schumacher crashed while skiing in the French Alps in December 2013, hitting his head on a rock. He survived, but suffered extensive injuries which mean he requires round-the-clock care from his family and a team of medical staff.
Updates have been few and far between ever since, with wife Corinna fiercely protective of her husband's privacy. Vettel understands that, though he greatly misses his friend and fellow German.
Speaking to German channel RTL, former racer Vettel spoke about his relationship with his idol. He said: "It's still very, very difficult. I don't want to say to accept it, but to accept that he continues to fight. Yes, of course, I only wish him the best.
"But it's still very often a topic I think about privately and I think about a lot and that is definitely a recurring theme. Of course, the first thoughts immediately went to the last conversation we had together and that couldn't be more positive. I told him that I was going to be a father and what was coming for us.
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"And I think I really appreciated it towards the end in that sense, where our relationship became stronger and stronger before the accident. Because I think we both got to know each other more and more and racing was no longer the biggest thing we had in common, but life in general and life with and around racing. And I just miss my friend."
Vettel is, of course, far from the only person close to Schumacher who has keenly felt the loss of the relationship they had with the F1 legend. Mick, the seven-time world champion's son, has previously shared his regret over not being able to share his own racing journey with his father.
"We would have had much more to talk about... I would give up everything just for that," said Mick. And Vettel, who took the younger Schumacher under his wing when he first made it to F1, expressed his sympathy for the 24-year-old.
He added: "I believe in recent years he would have been extremely important. When I would have so many questions, he would definitely have so many answers, or he could provide inspiration. That's missing, but of course, it is from a friend's point of view with me.
"But for the family, it is of course much more difficult. At the time, Mick was a little boy or a boy, maybe not so small anymore but a teenager. Yes, I think that's a completely different dimension, if the father has an accident and, in that respect, breaks away."