Michael Schumacher health condition news 2016: Former manager says latest about F1 legend 'not good'

Retired Formula One driver Michael Schumacher, who is still in intensive care treatment at his home in Switzerland following a brain injury from a skiing accident in 2013, may not be doing so well, a close associate has revealed.

"I have news and unfortunately it is not good," the German champion's former Ferrari manager, Luca di Montezemolo, told reporters on Thursday as quoted by BBC. "Life is strange. He was a fantastic driver and only had one accident with Ferrari in 1999."

Schumacher drove under the Ferrari banner for 11 years. His previous near-death experience happened in 1999 due to a failure in the breaking mechanism when the red flag was out. The accident left him with a broken leg.

This recent update on the seven-time Formula World champion has become a much-speculated topic. Schumacher's official spokesperson Sabine Kehm, however, expressed her refusal to comment on such a sensitive matter.

The two-time Laureus World Sportsman of the Year awardee was placed in a medically-induced coma after he sustained a traumatic brain injury in a freak skiing accident in December 2013. Schumacher was with his 14-year-old son Mick in the French Alps when he fell and hit his head on a rock.

In November, another racing world figurehead, FIA president Jean Todt, told the The Daily Mail, "I see Michael very often and Michael is still fighting."

"Michael is a close friend, his family is very close to me and I am very close to them as well," he said. "We must keep him fighting with the family."

According to The Telegraph, Pope Francis has prayed for Schumacher. Todt recently visited The Pope and showed him "Save Kids' Lives," a short video used in the #SaveKidsLives road safety campaign. Afterwards, the FIA boss discussed Schumacher's condition with the Pope and asked the pontiff to pray for the F1 legend.

Schumacher's ongoing battle has been kept mostly private, as requested by his family.