Almost six years after Michael Schumacher suffered a horrific brain injury following a skiing accident, the Formula 1 World Champion’s health condition is still largely shrouded in secrecy.

Although Schumacher’s two children – 22-year-old accomplished equestrian Gina and 20-year-old Ferrari junior drive Mick – have opened up to the media about their father’s condition in the past, Schumacher’s wife, Corinna, hasn’t spoke about her husband’s health status since the incident occurred in 2013.

Now, in a new interview, Schumacher’s former long-term manager Willi Weber has claimed that the 50-year-old’s wife fears the truth being exposed about her husband’s condition.

Speaking in a newly released German TV documentary, Weber claimed that he has been unable to visit his former client.

"I know that Michael has been hit hard, but unfortunately I do not know what progress he makes," he said.

"I'd like to know how he's doing and shake hands or stroke his face. But unfortunately, this is rejected by Corinna," he added.

"She's probably afraid that I'll see right away what's going on and make the truth public."

Weber also added that he "firmly believes" Schumacher will make a recovery from his injuries.

"I firmly believe in Michael's recovery, because I know he is a fighter," he said.

"If there is a chance, he will use it. That cannot be the end. I pray for him and am convinced that we will see him again."

In a previous interview, Luca Badoer, another former colleague of Schumacher's at Ferrari, shared that only select people are allowed to visit Schumacher.

"Only a few people are allowed to visit Schumacher," he said, according to Express.

"His wife Corinna decides who is allowed to see him."

Michael Schumacher's accident.

Michael Schumacher was skiing with his son, Mick, in the French alps on December 29, 2013, when he hit a partially covered rock.

Although he had not been skiing very fast at the time, he lost control and was thrown over 10 metres, striking his head on another rock.

In 2018, Schumacher's rescuer, mountain cop Stephane Bozon, opened up about the accident.

"The first responders said that because the accident site was next to the slope, it was difficult for them to transport him carefully and cautiously," he told German news outlet FOCUS.

"It was clear that it was very serious, otherwise we would not have used the helicopter. Mr Schumacher was lucky [to survive]," he added.

Following the accident, Schumacher was placed in a medically induced coma for six months, while doctors worked to save the racing champion.

Now, six years on from the accident, Schumacher is wheelchair-bound, unable to stand alone and can no longer speak.

Despite this, however, some media outlets have reported that Schumacher has since been making slow, but noticeable progress.

What is Michael Schumacher's life like now?

The entire Schumacher family have remained quiet on Schumacher's health condition in recent years.

The 50-year-old also hasn't been seen publicly since the accident occurred.

Back in 2015, we learned that the father-of-two had began to react to the voices of his wife Corinna and their children Gina and Mick, often shedding a tear when he heard their voices.

In a 2018 report in French magazine Paris Match, it was reported that despite being unable to speak, the seven-time world champion continues to show emotion.

"When you put him in his wheelchair facing the beautiful panorama of the mountains overlooking the lake, Michael sometimes cries," an anonymous relative reportedly told Paris Match.

Schumacher's rehabilitation currently reportedly involves around 15 people including physiotherapists and doctors, who visit Schumacher at his Switzerland home on Lake Geneva.

As part of his rehabilitation sessions, therapists play the sounds of F1 engines and he also steers a Volkswagen Golf – in the hopes of jogging his memory, which was reportedly lost in the accident.

In September this year, Schumacher's former Ferrari boss Jean Todt shared a positive update.

"I'm always careful with such statement, but it's true. I saw the [Formula 1] race with Michael Schumacher at his home in Switzerland," Todt told Radio Monte-Carlo. 

"Michael is in the best hands and is well looked after in his house," he added.

"He does not give up and keeps fighting. His family is fighting just as much and of course our friendship can not be the same as it once was," he continued. "Just because there's not longer the same communication as before."

"He continues to fight. And his family is fighting the same way."

In her first interview since Schumacher's injury, his wife, Corinna, didn't comment on her husband's health condition.

She did, however, thank her husband for "doing everything".

"When I was 30, I very much wanted to have a horse and Michael went with me to Dubai, where I intended to buy an Arabian horse," she told She magazine.

"He did everything for me. I will never forget who I have to thank. That would be my husband Michael."

Nicklas Nielsen, a close friend of Schumacher's son Mick, also told Danish newspaper BT that Mick is "completely closed" about his father’s health condition.

"Mick does not say he is sad about his father. He just said sometimes that it is hard," Nielsen said.

In January, Corinna and her family issued a rare statement on Schumacher's 50-year-old birthday.

"You can be sure that he is in the very best of hands and that we are doing everything humanely possible to help him," the statement read.

"Please understand if we are following Michael's wishes and keeping such a sensitive subject as health, as it has always been, in privacy."

For more on this topic:

• 'Sometimes he cries.' Exactly what Michael Schumacher's life is like, almost 6 years after his accident.
• Five years after Michael Schumacher's devastating ski accident, his rescuer has spoken.
• Michael Schumacher's son has opened up about his father five years on from his accident.
• The hopeful letter Michael Schumacher’s wife wrote about her husband's condition.

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