Seven-time F1 World Champion Michael Schumacher suffered a traumatic brain injury following a skiing accident in 2013.

Michael Schumacher was involved in a skiing accident in 2013(Image: Bongarts/Getty Images)

After years of physical therapy, Formula One legend Michael Schumacher is reportedly now able to sit up and is no longer bedridden. The 57-year-old has not been seen publicly since suffered a traumatic brain injury in a skiing accident in December 2013.

Although his privacy has been strictly guarded, it is now understood that the former Ferrari and Mercedes driver travels between his estates in Switzerland and Majorca as he is now capable of sitting up.

While he cannot walk, the German is no longer bed bound and can therefore be wheeled around by nurses and medical staff, reports the Mirror.

It has also been reported by the Daily Mail that Schumacher is not suffering from Locked-in Syndrome – a condition where someone is fully aware of what is going on around them but is unable to move or communicate verbally.

A source close to the family said: “You can’t be sure whether he understands everything because he cannot tell anyone. The feeling is that he understands some of the things going on around him, but probably not all of them.”

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Michael Schumacher suffered a serious head injury in 2013(Image: Getty)

Wife Corinna and a team of healthcare professionals have care for him for the last 12 years after he hit his head on a rock while skiing in Meribel in the French Alps. Following the accident, he was placed in a medically induced coma for six months before returning home to Lake Geneva.

The family remain based in their £50 million house in Gland, Switzerland, on the banks of the lake but they also utilise a £30 million mansion in Las Brisas, in the south west of Majorca – bought by Corinna from Florentino Perez, president of Real Madrid, in 2017.

Only a select group of family, close friends and staff have been allowed to see Schumacher since his accident. The importance of that secrecy was threatened in 2024 when the family were blackmailed after a security guard stole 900 personal photos, almost 600 videos and medical records.

Three men – who were later convicted in February 2024 – were involved in the plot to upload the information to the dark web unless they were paid €15million (£12m).

Schumacher won seven F1 World Championships, making him the joint most successful driver of all time alongside Lewis Hamilton, and he retains a connection to his old team Ferrari. Former Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn is understood to be one of the few people to have seen Schumacher since his accident.