Michael Schumacher latest: Retired racing driver is able to communicate with wife

The F1 veteran emerged from his coma on 16 June

Michael Schumacher gives the thumbs up after qualifying first in Monaco (GETTY IMAGES)

Michael Schumacher is reportedly able to communicate with his wife and family.

The retired racing driver came out of his coma on 16 June, after six months.

He is also said to have lost a quarter of his body weight (three stone) since his skiing accident on 29 December which left him with severe head injuries and in an artificially-induced coma.

He has had his muscles and joints massaged daily, according to German newspaper Bild.

The F1 legend is now recovering at the Vaud university hospital at Lausanne, Switzerland, close to his family home, after being transferred from a French hospital.

His manager, Sabine Kehm, said in a statement that he will now “continue his long phase of rehabilitation”.

However, the news may not be as significant as hoped. Schumacher’s former doctor, Gary Hartstein, said he could be in a “minimally conscious state” and has questioned the language used to describe his condition.

French medical experts warned that only one in ten patients who spent so many months in a coma went on to recover all or most of their mental and physical capacities.