Flavio Briatore reveals he speaks ‘often’ with stricken star’s wife Corinna but refuses to visit his championship-winning driver because he wants to remember him ‘full of energy and strength’
Michael Schumacher‘s former Formula One boss has offered a devastating glimpse into the racing legend’s life, revealing the seven-time world champion is now confined to bed more than a decade after his catastrophic skiing accident.
Flavio Briatore, 75, who masterminded Schumacher’s first two world championships at Benetton in 1994 and 1995, made the heartbreaking admission while explaining why he has never visited his former driver since the life-changing accident.
Speaking to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Briatore said: “If I close my eyes, I see him smiling after a victory. I prefer to remember him like that rather than him just lying on a bed.”
The Alpine executive advisor added that he maintains regular contact with Schumacher’s devoted wife Corinna, saying “Corinna and I talk often, though.”
THE ACCIDENT THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
The German racing icon’s life was forever altered on December 29, 2013, when he fell and collided with another rock 10 metres away, striking the right side of his head while skiing off-piste at the French Alpine resort of Méribel.
Schumacher, who was wearing a helmet at the time, suffered a severe brain injury and was airlifted to Grenoble Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. He was placed in a medically induced coma and remained unconscious for nearly six months.
The accident occurred while Schumacher was skiing with his then 14-year-old son Mick in an area he knew well – the racing legend actually owned a chalet in the valley and was a regular visitor to the resort.
A DELIBERATE CHOICE NOT TO VISIT
In a revealing interview with German broadcaster RTL, Briatore explained his painful decision to stay away from his former protégé.
“I want to remember Michael as he was – full of energy and strength”, the Italian said. “He wouldn’t want me to remember him the way he is now.”
The 75-year-old revealed that their last meeting was at “a boxing event in Germany, a few months before his terrible skiing accident”, and he has chosen to preserve that memory rather than confront the harsh reality of Schumacher’s current condition.
Briatore emphasised that “Michael and his family were a big part of the success, including my personal success”, underlining the deep bond forged during their championship-winning years together.
LIFE BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
Schumacher, now 56, has been cared for at his £115,000-per-week home in Gland, Switzerland, near Lake Geneva, since being released from hospital in 2014. It was reported by German media, ahead of the 10-year anniversary of his skiing accident in late-2023, that Schumacher receives 24-hour care from a team of up to 15 people.
Access to the F1 legend is strictly controlled, with Only a select group of 20 individuals, chosen by the Schumacher family, are permitted access to the racing icon.
Former Ferrari boss and FIA president Jean Todt is among the privileged few allowed to visit. “I don’t miss Michael. I can see him,” Todt told German TV channel RTL. “But of course, what I miss is what we used to do together.”
CORINNA’S UNWAVERING DEVOTION
Schumacher’s wife Corinna has been the driving force behind his care and recovery. Speaking at a rare public appearance in 2022, she offered a glimpse into their lives: “We live together at home. We do therapy. We do everything we can to make Michael better and to make sure he’s comfortable.”
She added poignantly: “I mean, everybody misses Michael, but Michael is here. Different, but he’s here and that gives us strength, I find.”
Briatore paid tribute to Corinna’s strength, telling Bild: “She is a great woman and runs the family. She hadn’t expected that. It happened suddenly and she had no choice. But she does it very well.”
He credited her determination for Schumacher’s survival: “Thanks to the work of his doctors and the cooperation of Corinna, who wanted him to survive, he survived – but with consequences.
THE RACING LEGACY LIVES ON
While Michael remains hidden from public view, his son Mick has followed in his father’s tyre tracks, making his Formula One debut with Haas in 2021. In the Netflix documentary about his father, Mick revealed he “would give up everything” just for the chance to talk to his father Michael about racing.
Briatore, who returned to F1 as Alpine’s executive advisor in 2024, recently reflected on his history of nurturing young talent, saying: “I did that with Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, who are not exactly two types.
A FAMILY’S FIERCE PROTECTION
The Schumacher family’s decision to maintain strict privacy has been unwavering. Felix Damm, Schumacher’s lawyer, explained in 2023: “It was always about protecting private things”, adding that releasing updates would only lead to demands for more information.
Eddie Jordan, who gave Schumacher his F1 debut in 1991, supports the family’s approach: “It’s been nearly 10 years now and Corinna has not been able to go to a party, to lunch or this or that, she’s like a prisoner because everyone would want to talk to her about Michael.
As the Formula One world continues without one of its greatest champions, Briatore’s revelation serves as a sobering reminder of how quickly life can change. The man who once dominated racing circuits around the world, winning 91 races and equalling the record of seven world championships, now faces his toughest battle in the privacy of his Swiss home.
For Briatore, preserving the memory of Schumacher at his peak – “full of fire” as he once was – remains his way of honouring their extraordinary partnership that transformed Formula One history.
Image credit: Michael Schumacher Berkedip (Cropped) by Andy Whittle, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
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