‘Michael Schumacher was my best friend – I’ve refused to see him since accident’ | F1 | Sport

Willi Weber, former manager of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, has revealed that he has not seen the legendary F1 star since his skiing accident in 2013, and he likely never will.

Schumacher has been totally absent from the public eye since his life-changing brain injury, suffered while skiing in the French Alps. He was removed from an artificial coma midway through 2014 and released from Grenoble Hospital, at which he was staying, but since then there has been little in the way of updates on his condition.

The former Ferrari and Mercedes driver has been cared for by his wife Corinna at the family home in Switzerland with only a controlled, close inner circle allowed one-to-one access to Schumacher.

However, reports have since emerged that the 55-year-old was present at daughter Gina Schumacher’s wedding. She tied the knot with long-term partner Iain Bethke at the family’s Mallorca villa last weekend in a luxurious ceremony at which guests were forced to hand over mobile phones in the name of privacy.

German newspaper BILD reported that alongside Ralf Schumacher and new partner Etienne Bousquet-Cassagne, it was ‘very likely’ that the seven-time world champion was in attendance.

One man who wasn’t able to reunite with Schumacher at the wedding was former manager Weber. The 82-year-old told BILD: “I have had no contact with the family for over ten years.

“I can barely remember what even happened. I was not invited to the wedding, but I wouldn’t have gone anyway because my health is not good at the moment. ​​I would not have wanted to fly to Mallorca.”

Weber continued: “Michael was one of my best friends. More like a son that I never had. Nobody knows exactly what’s going on with him today, so I don’t want to comment any further.”

He also revealed his guilt over not visiting Schumacher at the time of his accident. “​It was my fault that I didn’t visit Michael after the accident and stand by him,” he added. “Because I thought the media reports were exaggerated.

“I thought I’d better wait a few days and then everything would be fine. But it was too late. For a long time, I blamed myself for not reacting immediately. Since then, I’ve said goodbye to Michael in my heart in order to find my peace again.”