Michael Schumacher's recovery will take a 'long time and a hard fight', says manager

Kehm dispute claims made by Schumacher's alleged friend

Michael Schumacher, pictured in 2012 (Getty Images)

Michael Schumacher is undergoing a “hard fight” as he recovers from near fatal head injuries which left him in a coma during a skiing accident on 29 December last year.

The former F1 driver emerged from his coma in June and has been living in his family home in Switzerland since September.

“We need a long time. It’s going to be a long time and a hard fight,” his manager, Sabine Kehm, told Reuters. “He is making progress appropriate to the severity of the situation.”

Another former F1 driver, Philippe Streiff, said that he had learned from Schumacher’s wife, Corrine, and his surgeon, Gerard Saillant, he was beginning to recognise “those close to him”.

Kehm has claimed that Streiff was not a close friend of Schumacher’s however, and stated that driver has had no contact with the family.

“I cannot confirm that [report],” she said. “I can only confirm that I do not know where Streiff has his information from because he has no contact with us and he never has.”

Saillant has confirmed that he had not “the slightest verbal, written, or physical contact” with Streiff in the past year.

Schumacher turns 46 on 3 January.