BUDAPEST - World motor sport supremo Jean Todt has said he
recently visited Michael Schumacher and expressed hope the record
Formula One world champion could at some stage appear in public again
for the first time since his severe skiing accident seven years ago.
Todt told the Mail on Sunday paper at the Hungarian Grand Prix he saw
Schumacher last week.
"He is fighting. I hope the world will be able to see him again. That
is what he and his family are working towards," Todt said.
Todt did not reveal any medical details, citing privacy reasons.
Schumacher, 51, has been kept out of the public eye since suffering
severe head injuries in the December 2013 accident.
He is recovering in his house on the banks of Lake Geneva, and Todt -
the Ferrari team principal when Schumacher won five of his seven
world titles with the Scuderia - is one of very few friends who has
access.
The FIA president said it wouldn't matter if Lewis Hamilton bettered
Schumacher's Formula One records one by one. The Briton already has
the most pole positions, is just six race wins away from Schumacher's
leading 91, and one away from Schumacher's seven world titles.
"I know it can happen that Lewis beats Michael's record as the
most-titled driver in history. All the ingredients are there with
Mercedes for him to do that. I honestly don't mind," Todt said.
"I remember in 2000 when I was on the podium in Suzuka with Michael
after he won his first title with Ferrari and I said to him that our
lives would never be the same again. We had achieved all we wanted.
After an accident like the one Michael has had, does it matter
whether Lewis has won more?"