Michael Schumacher: No update expected on Thursday after former Formula One world champion stabilises but remains critical

Schumacher is fighting for his life after suffering a serious head trauma in a skiing accident on Sunday

Michael Schumacher is seen in the pits during a training session at the Ricardo Tormo racetrack in Cheste near Valencia in 2006 (AFP/Getty)

Michael Schumacher remains in a “stable but critical condition” as he recovers from serious brain injuries he suffered in a skiing accident on Sunday, with no further update expected to come on Thursday.

Schumacher is fighting for his life in the Grenoble University Hospital with his family by his side, having undergone a second operation to reduce the swelling of his brain.

Doctors confirmed that following the operation, they had seen a “ slight improvement” in Schumacher’s condition, although he was by no means guaranteed survival and that he was being treated on an hour-by-hour basis.

Meanwhile, a French newspaper has reported that investigators trying to determine the cause of his accident want to speak to Schumacher’s media officer and manager Sabine Kehm after she gave her account of what had transpired, in which she claimed that speed was not a factor.

Kehm said that high speed was not responsible for the accident at the exclusive Méribel ski resort in the French Alps, and that Schumacher had stopped shortly before the crash to help a friend who had fallen over. She went on to claim that the 44-year-old then hit a rock which led to him being “catapulted in the air” before landing “apparently head down” onto another rock that split his helmet in two.

The Dauphiné Libéré spoke to prosecutor Patrick Quincy, who said: “Some rocks were visible and others weren’t. The only thing that we are sure of at this time is that Michael Schumacher lost his balance because of one of them before he fell.”

The latest update came on New Year’s Day, which said that he had stabilised but remained critical, and there is not thought to be another update on his condition before his 45th birthday on Friday.