![\"Twelve](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/twelve-years-on-from-the-skiing-accident-that-left-michael-schumacher-with-life-changing-injuries-a-.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nTwelve years on from the skiing accident that left Michael Schumacher with life-changing injuries, a close friend of the Formula 1 legend believes widespread assumptions about his condition are likely correct.<\/p>\n
Richard Hopkins, who worked for rival team McLaren during Schumacher’s dominant era, has spoken about the enduring mystery surrounding the seven-time world champion’s health.<\/p>\n
“I think our own assumptions are fairly accurate about where he’s at right now,” Hopkins told the Mirror.<\/p>\n
The German driver suffered his injuries on December 29, 2013, and has remained entirely hidden from public view ever since.<\/p>\n
Despite being excluded from Schumacher’s inner circle, Hopkins expressed understanding about the secrecy, suggesting the limited information released indicates “there’s maybe not a lot to say.”<\/p>\n
Hopkins developed a friendship with Schumacher despite their professional rivalry, regularly sharing coffee breaks with the racing icon from the early 1990s when the German first emerged as a force in the sport.<\/p>\n
Their connection continued until 2007, the year following Schumacher’s initial retirement from Ferrari.<\/p>\n
Twelve years on from the skiing accident that left Michael Schumacher with life-changing injuries, a close friend of the Formula 1 legend believes widespread assumptions about his condition are likely correct<\/p>\n
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GETTY<\/p>\n
Yet Hopkins finds himself among those shut out from visiting the stricken driver in the years since the accident.<\/p>\n
“It’s difficult,” he admitted. “I think all of us, and it’s just human nature, want to know. We would love to know.”<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that the family’s reluctance to allow visits likely stems from not wanting Schumacher seen in his current state.<\/p>\n
![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/michael-schumacher-skiing.jpg\")
“That obviously generates your own ideas and images, and I think we all probably have a similar idea of the state that he’s in,” Hopkins explained.<\/p>\n
Schumacher is understood to live primarily at the family residence beside Lake Geneva, where a dedicated medical team provides round-the-clock care.<\/p>\n
His wife Corinna has been fiercely protective of her husband’s privacy throughout the past dozen years, ensuring only a handful of trusted individuals gain access.<\/p>\n
The precise list of permitted visitors remains unclear, though former Ferrari team principal and FIA president Jean Todt is known to have maintained contact.<\/p>\n
Austrian ex-F1 driver Gerhard Berger and Sabine Kehm, the former journalist who now manages the Schumacher family’s affairs, are also among those granted entry.<\/p>\n
Former manager Willi Weber has publicly criticised being kept uninformed about his one-time client’s condition, highlighting the strict boundaries the family has maintained around access to the racing icon.<\/p>\n
![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/michael-schumacher.jpg\")
Hopkins anticipates the wall of secrecy will remain firmly in place for the foreseeable future, predicting that genuine insight into Schumacher’s post-accident life will only come after his passing.<\/p>\n
“I’m sure the day that he’s no longer with us, we might be privy to a little bit more information,” he said.<\/p>\n
“But all the while he’s with us, in whatever state that is, the family are respecting his privacy.”<\/p>\n
He dismissed any prospect of a sudden revelation while the racing legend remains alive.<\/p>\n
“I don’t think there will ever be a day while he’s alive when suddenly everything comes out. But maybe when he’s no longer with us, we’ll find out a little bit more about his life post-accident.”<\/p>\n
Hopkins suggested the continued public interest serves a purpose, noting that persistent questions help keep Schumacher’s memory alive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Twelve years on from the skiing accident that left Michael Schumacher with life-changing injuries, a close friend of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":660457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3940],"tags":[4080,77,4199,12,512,93,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-660456","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-f1","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-sgg","13":"tag-sport","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115803410454695415","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}