Michael Schumacher has arguably been the best Formula One driver of all time, and following his 2013 accident, he has since kept his distance from the spotlight.

The German driver, who’d once alluded to being The Stig on Top Gear , raced with Ferrari for most of his career before returning to Mercedes for three years.

After his initial retirement from the sport in 2006 before returning in 2009, his second and final retirement from Formula 1 (F1) would be in 2012.

Just one year later, the Schumacher family would be left devastated after he suffered a traumatic injury while on holiday in the French Alps.

Michael Schumacher was a world-famous race car driver for Formula 1 (Horstmüller/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

Schumacher, 55, had been on holiday in 2013 with his son Mick, who was then 14, as he travelled across an off-piste area of the slope.

It was during this section that he fell and hit his head on a rock. Despite wearing a helmet, which cracked upon the impact, he suffered a serious head injury and was airlifted to hospital, where he was put in a medically induced coma.

In 2014, Schumacher was brought out of the coma, leaving hospital the following year, and has since lived an incredibly private life while recovering at home.

The driver’s family have been notoriously private about Schumacher’s health, and have given updates only when essential – largely to deny any rumours.

Schumacher’s lawyer had previously explained why a health report had never been released following his accident, telling German news outlet, LTO, that the decision was to protect ‘private matters’.

But now, Schumacher’s wife, Corinna Schumacher, has reportedly made a ‘major decision’ regarding his privacy.

In 2012, he was involved in a skiing accident and suffered a traumatic head injury (Clive Mason/Allsport/Getty images)

Schumacher’s former bodyguard, Markus Fritsche, 53, has been accused of stealing photographs and videos in an alleged £12 million blackmail scheme.

Prosecutors claim he stole around 900 photos and 600 containing classified medical documents and information about Schumacher’s health.

As well as Fritsche, two other men also stand accused, including friend Yilmaz Tozturkan, 53, and Tozturkan’s son Daniel Lins, 30.

All three appeared at Wuppertal District Court on 10 December, where, according to The Daily Mail, Tozturkan, a nightclub bouncer, told the court about how the alleged scheme came to fruition, claiming he and Fritsche had ‘known each other for a long time’ and ‘keep in contact’.

He said: “He said that he was in possession of this material, and he asked if we could do anything with it. I said: ‘I will ask but we will definitely be able to do something’.

His wife, Corinna, has reportedly decided to file a privacy motion (Getty images)

“I was given two hard drives, one was black, and the other was blue. For the most part I admit everything, but I didn’t buy the pictures.

“I was going to try and sell them first but when I didn’t get any interest that’s when I contacted the Schumacher family.”

He then claimed that his son only gave him an ‘email address’ and that he wasn’t privy to the blackmail plans.

Corinna is said to have filed a motion to prevent the public from learning of details surrounding her husband’s health during the trial, which, according to German News outlet BILD, she wants to ‘exclude the public from the trial’.

At the start of the trial, the senior public prosecutors shared that the ‘data that was accessed here is extremely sensitive’.

“The Schumacher family has a great public interest in not revealing the health of Mr. Michael Schumacher. The data that we have found provides considerable information about precisely this situation.” the prosecutor added.

LADbible has previously contacted Michael Schumacher’s representatives for comment.

The now 54-year-old sustained life-threatening injuries and was placed into a medically induced coma which he came around from in 2014.

The racing champ’s family lawyer previously told German news outlet LTO there was no public report given into his condition to protect ‘private things’.

During the 2021 Netflix documentary Schumacher, his wife Corinna said: “We try to carry on a family as Michael liked it and still does. And we are getting on with our lives.

“’Private is private’, as he always said. It is very important to me that he can continue to enjoy his private life as much as possible.”

While the former world champ may have withdrawn from public life, people continue to look for answers around his accident.

And now a ski instructor at the scene claims two ‘grave mistakes’ were made that tragic day.

German author and journalist Jens Gideon has been probing the 2013 accident and has released his findings for the German broadcaster ARD.

He visited the scene of the accident in the French Alps and spoke to a local ski instructor.

Only named as Andre, it’s believed there were these two mistakes made that led to the crash.

It’s reported there was a lack of snow on the ground, making it more dangerous to ski as more rocks were exposed.

Andre explained: “You don’t go in there on a day like that. It was clear that there wasn’t enough snow.”

Then the second is that because Schumacher appeared to be conscious after the initial crash, the first responders didn’t quite realise the severity of the situation.

Clive Rose/Getty Images

Therefore there was a delay in getting him to the more specialised hospital, with Andre claiming if he’d have got there earlier he could’ve received the necessary treatment in better time.

The racing driver had reportedly been skiing off-piste with his son Mick when the accident happened.

Andre told the journalist that he remembers seeing a crushed helmet with a camera still on top.

This means the accident is believed to have been captured in footage, although it’s extremely unlikely this would ever be shared publicly.

Schumacher’s ex-Ferarri boss Jean Todt previously spoke about visiting the star twice a month and watching races with him.

At the end of the day, the champ’s health and privacy is a matter for his family and him to decide. He’ll always be a legend of the sport.