What happened to Michael Schumacher? Nightclub bouncer jailed over blackmail plot
Formula One great Michael Schumacher has still not been seen by the world for more than a decade, with his privacy having survived two recent scares.
The German former racing driver, who won a record-setting seven world championships, has been living in private with his family since a life-changing skiing accident in 2013.
Little is known about the true nature of his condition and no photo has been seen of Schumacher since the crash, with his wife and family working hard to ward off public curiosity.
On February 12, it was reported that a former nightclub bouncer has been jailed for three years after being convicted of conspiring with others to obtain footage of Schumacher and blackmail the family for £12m. Yilmaz Tozturkan, 53, was given the sentence while his son, Daniel Lins, 30, was given a six-month suspended sentence.
His former bodyguard, meanwhile, was given a two-year suspended sentence after hard drives containing confidential pictures, videos and medical records were stolen. Markus Fritsche, 53, was convicted after being found to have worked in conjunction with Tozturkan and Lins to try to leak the images.
The family also faced reports that Schumacher had been present at the wedding of his daughter last year – but these were rubbished by a family friend.
'The most recent rumour was he attended his daughter's wedding,' said Schumacher's former rival, Johnny Herbert. 'Unfortunately, from what I understand, that was all AI fake news and no truth in it.'
Here's what we know about the racing driver.
Born in the West German town of Hürth on January 3, 1969, Schumacher came from a working-class family that nurtured his talent. His father, Rolf, was a bricklayer who later ran the local kart track, and modified his son's pedal kart at the age of four, adding a diesel engine.
Schumacher promptly crashed it into a lamppost, after which his father enrolled him as the youngest member of the karting club in neighbouring Kerpen-Horrem.
Rolf built him a kart from spare parts (as well as taking on two jobs to help hs son pursue his dreams), and at the age of six, Schumacher won his first club championship.
His star soon stared to rise – and with it, his ambition. German regulations forbade kart drivers from getting their licence under the age of 14; to get around it, Schumacher went to Luxembourg and got his at the age of 12, then went onto win the German Junior Kart Championship. A year later, he got his German kart licence.
By 1987, he was the German and European kart champion, and dropped out of school to work as a mechanic. Shortly after, he pivoted to racing cars: in 1989, he signed onto the WTS Formula Three team, before joining the Mercedes-Benz junior racing programme in 1990.
On the track, Schumacher quickly established himself as a force to be reckoned with.
Racing for Jordan-Ford, Benetton and eventually Ferrari, he started racking up win after win from 1990 onwards. In 1992, he finished three points ahead of renowned racing driver Ayrton Senna, who told a friend he thought the German was "the next big threat, way ahead of all the other drivers around at the time.'
He became known for his speed and ability to push his car to the very limit, often snatching victory at the last second through a daring fast lap.
He was also committed to improving his racing by any means necessary, especially fitness. In 2004, Slate magazine called him "the most dominant athlete in the world", thanks to being "quicker, stronger, and fitter than the competition by outworking them in the weight room.' This even extended to training his neck muscles via a four-hour daily routine, in order withstand the G-forces he was subjected to in the cockpit.
The flexibility and adaptability of the German's driving style paired with a cool head under pressure. Over the course of his career, he earned the nickname 'Regenkonig' or the Rain King, for winning 17 out of 30 races he contested in wet conditions.
Giancarlo Fisichella told La Gazzetta dello Sport in 2023 that his former rival 'didn't even seem to have sweated' in races, adding that he 'rewrote the history of Formula One.'
Fellow F1 drivers agreed: drivers who followed Schumacher onto the track, such as Sebastian Vettel, cite Schumacher as a key inspiration for them (Vettel, who retired in 2022, called him an 'idol'), while Austrian Niki Lauda called him 'the greatest. Nobody will ever beat him, as long as we are alive.'
After a star-studded career, Schumacher eventually retired for good in 2012. He did so as the fifth-highest earning athlete of all time, winner of multiple awards – including a Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Pelé – and a multiple record holder, some of which remain unbeaten to this day.
In 2013, Schumacher was skiing in the French alps when he fell and hit his head on a rock. Schumacher was an experienced skier, but hit an exposed rock as he descended the mountain and flew through the air, hitting another rock 10 metres away and cracking his helmet.
The right side of his head sustained severe damage – so severe that medics said he would have died had he not been wearing protective headgear. He was airlifted to hospital, where he underwent two operations and was put in a medically-induced coma for seven months.
By April 2014, he was showing moments of consciousness, and was brought out of the coma. In November 2014, he was reportedly 'paralysed and in a wheelchair', and unable to speak, but Schumacher's manager Sabine Kehm told press the following year that he was slowly improving: "I can only say again: There are signs that give us encouragement," she said.
Not much else is known. In 2023, his former Ferrari manager, Jean Todt, told French daily L'Equipe that "Michael is here, so I don't miss him.
"[But he] is simply not the Michael he used to be. He is different and is wonderfully guided by his wife and children who protect him. His life is different now and I have the privilege of sharing moments with him. That's all there is to say. Unfortunately, fate struck him ten years ago. He is no longer the Michael we knew in Formula One."
Since the accident, the German been living at his home in Lake Geneva, and his wife Corinna is fiercely protective of his privacy. Reportedly, only three family members and a team of medics are regularly in contact with Schumacher, who is said to require round-the-clock care.
''We're together. We live together at home. We do therapy,' she said in a 2021 Netflix documentary. 'We do everything we can to make Michael better and to make him comfortable. And to simply make him feel our family, our bond.'
The family has been involved in legal battles around Schumacher's security, with his former bodyguard, Markus Fritsche, having been convicted alongside Yilmaz Tozturkan and Daniel Lins over a blackmail plot. The three were all sentenced in February: Tozturkan to three years in prison, Lins for six months suspended, and Fritsche for two years suspended. The Schumachers' lawyer has said his clients will appeal against the 'lenient' sentencing.
Schumacher did not, according to reports, attend the wedding of his 27-year-old daughter Gina to Iain Bethke, at the family's villa in Majorca.
Schumacher's 25-year-old son Mick recently became engaged to long-time girlfriend Laila Hasanovic. Mick talked in 2017 about his dad being an 'idol' and 'role model', and has followed in his footsteps by also pursuing a career in racing.
Their relationship has changed but remains solid as the Schumacher family look to move forward in the face of public and press scrutiny.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Former Blakely police officer faces animal abuse charges
Former Blakely Police Officer Anthony Mercado is facing animal abuse charges after an animal control officer found several dogs at his home in poor condition, according to a criminal complaint. Mercado worked for the department until recently, when he was let go because of the charges, according to Police Chief Guy Salerno. According to the criminal complaint: On April 29, Humane Society Officer Marci Zeiler received a report of a dog in very poor condition at Mercado's residence. The report included a photo of a dog that appeared to be extremely emaciated. On April 30, Zeiler contacted Salerno to discuss the situation. Zeiler then met with both Mercado and Salerno at the Police Department to discuss the condition of the dog. Mercado said the dog, a female boxer, was thin, but just simply didn't gain weight even though she ate well. He said she had a wound on her front leg that he was treating himself. The three then went to Mercado's home on Hickory Street in Peckville. He asked if Zeiler could inspect the dogs outside, but said she could walk through the house to get to the backyard. When Zeiler stepped inside the house, she was hit with the smell of urine. There were two animals inside the residence: a German shepherd on a leash and a 'lab type dog' in a crate near the back door. Mercado first let the German shepherd outside to be inspected. The dog had a dull coat and was losing tufts of hair. It scored a 4 out of 9 on a body condition score scale. Zeiler then inspected the Lab, who also scored only a 4 out of 9 on a body condition score scale. She noted that because the Lab was a puppy, she hadn't initially been concerned. However, Mercado said the Lab had been 'really fat' when he got it a few months ago, but had lost weight. Both dogs were dirty, as was the yard, Zeiler said. Mercado pointed out there were food and water bowls in the backyard, but they were empty and dirty. Zeiler then inspected the boxer, who scored only a 1 on the body condition score scale. 'Every bone in her body was visible,' Zeiler wrote in the complaint. 'She had an open wound on her right front carpal joint with extreme swelling, She had open sores on her left front carpal joint, both ischium bones on her back end and the end of her tail. Her feet had urine stains turning her white marks yellow.' Mercado said the dog lived in a crate. He said the crate currently had feces in it, but claimed he cleaned it often. Zeiler told Mercado he could surrender the boxer or she could come back with a warrant. Mercado said he would take the boxer to a veterinarian, but Zeiler said it was too late for that, and Mercado agreed to surrender her voluntarily. Zeiler told Mercado that if she took the animal back to the shelter and she immediately gained weight, that would indicate he hadn't been feeding her enough. Mercado took issue with that logic, saying the animal would have access to intravenous fluid and have a different standard of care. When Zeiler put the boxer in her vehicle to transport her back to Griffin Pond Animal shelter, the animal began to 'eat anything she could find.' Once at the shelter, a veterinarian examined the animal and noted she didn't have any conditions that would account for her low weight. The boxer, named Reya, ate and drank enthusiastically and was put on a refeeding program to gain weight slowly and steadily. Lab tests indicated that Reya was positive for giardia — an intestinal parasite — and she was successfully treated with medication costing less than $20. Although giardia sometimes causes some weight loss, it doesn't usually affect older dogs. The boxer gained about 20 pounds over the course of the next month and was adopted. Mercado — who is charged with cruelty to animals and animal neglect — is 'awaiting preliminary hearing,' according to court documents.
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Rabbi attacked with a chair in a Paris suburb, suspect in custody
A rabbi was attacked and injured on the head on Friday by a man with a chair while sitting on the terrace of a café in a Paris suburb, the public prosecutor's office in the Nanterre department reported. The suspect is in police custody and is being investigated for a serious act of violence. The rabbi was taken to hospital but has since been discharged, according to Jean-Christophe Fromantin, the mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine, just outside Paris on its western edge. In an interview with CNews, a large bruise on the right side of his forehead that was turning black and blue was clearly visible. The 28-year-old suspect is reportedly a man of Palestinian origin with German papers who was only temporarily in France, according to the mayor. The Le Parisien newspaper reported that he man was born in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and had a temporary residence permit for Germany. He was unarmed but was carrying a copy of the Koran. The rabbi told the broadcaster CNews that he had arranged to meet someone for a conversation at the café when he suddenly felt a blow to the back of his head. At first, he thought something had fallen from the roof of the café. He said it pained him to have been attacked because he was wearing a kippah and was recognizable as a Jew. He added that religion should never be a trigger for violence. The rabbi had just been attacked a week ago in Deauville, when he was severely beaten by three drunk individuals in the northern French seaside resort of Deauville.
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Seven Injured, Two Critically, In South Dallas Shooting
Seven people were hospitalized, two in critical condition, after a shooting in the historic Wheatley Place neighborhood of South Dallas on Thursday night. Police responded to a call around 8 p.m. at a neighborhood convenience store at the corner of South Malcolm X Boulevard and Lenway Street. Upon arrival, officers found seven victims with gunshot wounds. A preliminary investigation revealed that an unknown suspect shot multiple people at the scene. Dallas Fire-Rescue dispatched five ambulances, transporting four men and one woman, aged 35 to 48, to a nearby hospital. Two additional victims, in their 20s and 30s, were taken to the hospital via private means. Police initially reported eight victims but later corrected the total to seven, with two in critical condition. A reporter on the scene described a white Mercedes at the store parking lot as being covered in blood. Authorities have not released the identities of the victims or any information regarding suspects, arrests, or the motive for the shooting. The investigation is ongoing.
