Until that fateful day on December 29th 2013, when retired F1 ace Michael suffered life-changing injuries in a horror ski accident, the Schumachers were looking ahead to a future enjoying the millions he’d earned on the track together.
In the early days after the seven-times F1 champion was carried from the slopes of Meribel having endured a severe brain injury, Corinna, now 55, and the couple’s closest family members quickly erected a wall of privacy.
There have been no public sightings of the racing legend, who will go down in history as one of the greatest F1 drivers ever, and absolute silence on his condition from his family, beyond the words ‘he’s here, but he’s different’.
The couple’s two main homes, a lakeside idyll close to the city of Gland, 45 minutes north of Geneva in Switzerland, and their Balearic estate, Villa Yasmin, on the island of Mallorca – where daughter Gina was wed, with Michael ‘very likely’ present this weekend – remain luxury fortresses with their own private hospitals.
Maintaining such impenetrable privacy comes at huge costs, both financial and emotional, with Corinna clearly in the driving seat on how her husband’s legacy is preserved.
Since Michael Schumacher’s skiing accident in 2013, in which he collided with a rock in the French resort of Meribel and was left with life-changing injuries to his brain, his wife of nearly 30 years has fiercely controlled the family’s privacy (Pictured supporting son Mick at the Monza Gran Prix earlier this year)
The couple wed in 1994 and share two children, Gina, 27, and Mick, 25 – Corinna has spoken out just once – in a Netflix documentary – about mourning the life she had with her racing legend husband before their lives changed forever in December 2013 (Pictured in 2005)
There have been no public sightings of Schumacher (pictured skiing in Italy in 2005) and Corinna and his closest family have faced blackmail plots over the years about revealing details of his health to the public
‘I miss him every day’: The 55-year-old continues to guard the family’s life with 24/7 security – but has shown signs of a more relaxed approach in recent weeks
However, recent months have suggested that the German-born mother of the couple’s two children, Gina, 27, and Mick, 25, could finally be more accepting of a slightly more public life.
She’s been spotted supporting her racing driver son trackside, has welcomed his girlfriend into the ‘inner circle’ and is also thought to have approved Michael’s appearance at Gina’s wedding.
Perhaps the fact that Corinna is prepared to be a little more open is no surprise after a decade in which she’s gone to war to protect her husband’s privacy.
While there’s no suggestion the family will make any dramatic changes, Corinna must naturally look to the future and accept that her family will naturally evolve in the coming years – with Gina now married and Mick rumoured to be engaged to his model girlfriend.
Here, MailOnline looks at how she has faced off blackmail threats from ex employees over photos of her husband – and the sacrifices she’s made to ensure his life now is lived in complete privacy.
THE BLACKMAIL PLOT – AND AI INTERVIEW – THAT HAVE THREATENED TO DE-RAIL CORINNA’S HARD-WON BATTLE FOR PRIVACY
This summer saw Corinna faced with her worst fears – a blackmail plot with photos of Michael at their centre – with two men arrested in June.
The suspects, bouncer Yilmaz T, 53, and his 30-year-old son from Wuppertal in Germany‘s North Rhine-Westphalia region, allegedly claimed to have sensitive files containing images of the F1 legend after his near-fatal skiing crash in 2013.
They allegedly told the Schumachers they ‘would not want (the pictures) published’ and ‘demanded millions’ to stop them from doing so.
War: Corinna has had to face numerous blackmail attempts on the family, most recently from an ex security guard who claimed he would release photos of Michael the family ‘would not want published’
German Yilmaz T, 53, pictured, and his 30-year-old son from Wuppertal were arrested over the extortion attempt in June
The two men, who were arrested on June 19, transferred ‘individual files’ to the family to show they had access to documents about the F1 star, investigators claimed at the time.
Meanwhile, a senior prosecutor in Wuppertal confirmed to German media that a preliminary evaluation of data sets obtained in searches of the bouncer’s apartment contained ‘photos relating to the Schumacher family’s private life’.
Investigators in Germany were tipped off about the blackmail plot by authorities in Switzerland, where Schumacher has been cared for at the family home since the accident.
‘Technical measures’ made it possible to trace the alleged extortionists to Wuppertal, prosecutors said.
The two suspects, who were on probation in another case, were arrested by police on June 19 in a supermarket parking lot in Gross-Gerau, south of Frankfurt.
Authorities searched eight properties, as well as the main residences of the two men, seizing ‘several data storage devices’.
‘Extensive investigations’ into the case were still ongoing, they said.
If convicted, the suspects face a prison sentence of up to five years, the prosecutors added.
Schumacher’s family won a legal action in June against a German tabloid magazine which printed a fake AI interview with the 55-year-old German former race driver.
Magazine Die Aktuelle had in April 2023 claimed it had an interview with the motorsport legend but the article in fact contained quotes which had been computer-generated.
German tabloid Bild reported that Schumacher’s family was awarded 200,000 euros ($220,000) in compensation.
‘MICHAEL IS HERE, BUT DIFFERENT’: CORINNA’S LIFE IN THE YEARS SINCE THE ACCIDENT
The moment it became clear that Michael had endured life-changing injuries in the early days of 2014, the hospital he was initially treated in was under a strict security cordon, with only trusted visitors allowed to visit Schumacher – including Corinna, Gina and Mick – as well as former Ferrari team principal and CEO, Jean Todt.
The medical team who treated him included Professor Gerard Saillant, a brain and spine injury expert and close friend of Schumacher.
Corinna has spoken just once in public about her life with Michael since his accident, in the 2021 Netflix documentary Schumacher; she cried as she spoke about his tragic skiing accident that left him with a near-fatal brain injury in a rare interview
Michael survived two surgeries against the odds, but remained in critical condition for several weeks.
By April 2014, Schumacher was being withdrawn gradually from the medically induced coma, a process that was completed in June 2014.
He then travelled to Lausanne University Hospital for continuous rehabilitation, before leaving the facility in September to the £50m Schumacher family home in Gland, Switzerland, on the banks of Lake Geneva.
Corinna offered a brief glimpse into the couple’s life now in the 2021 Netflix documentary, Schumacher, about the racing driver, speaking of her grief that the man she shared her life with has gone.
Holding back tears, Corinna said ‘Why is this happening Michael’ but said that she ‘never blamed God’ for the tragic accident. She added later ‘Of course, I miss Michael every day. But it’s not just me who misses him. It’s the children, the family, his father, everyone around him. ‘I mean, everybody misses Michael, but Michael is here. Different, but he’s here and that gives us strength, I find
It was the first time she’d spoken publicly about her husband in eight years, and she hasn’t spoken since.
She says that Michael is ‘different’ since his injury, and revealed that during his racing days she had always believed that ‘guardian angels’ were watching over her husband.
She said: ‘I miss Michael every day. But it’s not just me who misses him. It’s the children, the family, his father, everyone around him.
‘Everybody misses Michael, but Michael is here – different, but here. He still shows me how strong he is every day.’
Michael and Corinna were married in August 1995 in Germany
Michael in archival footage with his son Mick, daughter Gina and wife Corinna, in the 2021 Netflix documentary
Schumacher retired in 2006 but just four years later was back racing for Mercedes GP, where he spent his final years on the track before being replaced by Lewis Hamilton
‘I have never blamed God for what happened. It was just really bad luck – all the bad luck anyone can have in life.
‘It’s always terrible when you say, “Why is this happening to Michael or us?”. But then why does it happen to other people?’
Holding back tears, Corinna continued: ‘Of course, I miss Michael every day. But it’s not just me who misses him. It’s the children, the family, his father, everyone around him.
‘I mean, everybody misses Michael, but Michael is here. Different, but he’s here and that gives us strength, I find.’
Former Ferrari and FIA chief Todt said Schumacher ‘is simply not the Michael he used to be, he is different’ in an interview with French newspaper L’Equipe last year, but said Corinna is ‘getting on with life as he would have wanted’.
TRACKSIDE ONCE MORE: POIGNANT MOMENTS AS CORINNA RETURNED TO F1 TO SUPPORT SON MICK
Returning to the tracks that made her seven-times F1 champion husband so famous has seen Corinna Schumacher faced with poignant memories.
The 55-year-old wife of legendary F1 driver was spotted at the Austrian Grand Prix in June this year supporting son Mick.
The couple’s son Mick’s racing career has seen Corinna back in the world of Formula 1 (Pictured at the Monza GP earlier this year)
Trying to get life back on track: Corinna watching son Mick Schumacher in Bahrain in 2019
Painful paddock return: Corinna has been seen at racing events more frequently as Mick’s career in motorsport has progressed (In Monza this year)
Mick was just 14 years old at the time of his father’s accident, which he witnessed first-hand having accompanied his dad on the ill-fated excursion.
Since then he has become the most public-facing member of the family, carving out his own path in motorsport.
He scooped titles in both Formula 3 and Formula 2 junior categories on his way to F1, where he secured a two-year stint as a driver for American constructor Haas.
Like Schumacher, Mick moved from karting into motorsport, and has since driven in F4, F3, F2, and F1
Mick is now competing for constructor Alpine in the 2024 FIA world Endurance Championship, but remains a reserve F1 driver for Mercedes as well as constructor McLaren
Support: Mick Schumacher and his mother Corinna during the German Sports Media Ball in Frankfurt in November 2019
He was ultimately let go at the end of the 2022 season as Haas struggled to compete with larger, more successful teams, but was retained as a reserve driver by the Mercedes F1 team, which his father helped to launch in 2010.
He is now competing for constructor Alpine in the 2024 FIA world Endurance Championship, but remains a reserve F1 driver for Mercedes as well as constructor McLaren.
Mick has also paid homage to his father’s career multiple times on the track in heartwarming exhibition events.
He drove his father’s 1994 Benetton F1 car in show laps at Spa in 2017, piloted the record-breaking Ferrari F2004 at the Mugello racetrack in 2020, and most recently sported his father’s original Mercedes overalls and race helmet when driving at Goodwood’s Festival of Speed last summer.
A FATHER AT HIS DAUGHTER’S WEDDING: DID OTHER GUESTS SEE MICHAEL?
No guests were allowed to take photos on their phones at Gina Schumacher’s lavish wedding to her long-term showjumper boyfriend Iain Bethke this weekend.
However, the fact their nuptials were held at the Schumacher’s Spanish estate – with Michael reportedly present amongst wider family members for the first time in over a decade suggests a huge shift in approach.
With money no object, the couple – who were engaged for seven years – could have had their pick of venues, but instead chose to welcome their guests into the family home.
The couple went public with their relationship in December 2017, when they stepped out at an awards ceremony together (pictured attending the Audi Generation Award 2017 at Hotel Bayerischer Hof on December 13, 2017 in Munich)
Most recently, Gina wished her father a happy birthday in a heartfelt Instagram post, which included a throwback shot with her brother Mick and father Michael
The newlyweds said ‘I do’ around 4pm on Saturday under an arch of flowers at Villa Yasmin, the property Corinna is understood to have bought in 2017 for £27million from Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.
The villa has a landing pad and Michael is regularly flown from to Port d’Andratx from the family home by Lake Geneva in Switzerland.
It is part of a 15,000 square metre estate which boasts two swimming pools, a helipad, a gym and a huge palm-tree-fringed garden.
Happy events in the couple’s two children’s lives could be instrumental in bringing the wider Schumacher family back together, pictured left: Gina Schumacher at her wedding to Iain Bethke this weekend
Gina also shared this photo of her and her father for his 54th birthday with the caption: ‘Keep fighting’
Speaking to She’s Magazine in 2019, Corinna and her daughter (both pictured) said that while her son Mick is following in his father’s footsteps with a racing career, mother and daughter were united in their love of Western riding
The 27-year-old bride’s big day could prove a much-needed balm on the wider Schumacher family relationships, which have become deeply fractured because Corinna has guarded her husband so closely since he was left with life-changing injuries on December 29th 2013.
The ceremony lasted around half an hour according to respected Majorcan daily Ultima Hora, with the newspaper reporting the couple treated guests to a banquet and a party with a live country music band.
Michael’s brother Ralf, who has previously commented publicly on Corinna Schumacher’s unshakeable desire to keep her husband’s condition out of the spotlight, was in attendance with his partner Etienne Bosquet-Cassagne.
The pair, who announced their romance earlier this year, also attended a pre-party at upmarket Mhares Sea Club south of the island capital Palma on Friday afternoon, suggesting they were very welcome wedding guests.
BILD claims that the family did not want anyone taking unauthorised photos of the property’s private rooms, but also reported that it is ‘very likely’ that seven-time world champion Schumacher was present.
Horse enthusiasts Gina and Iain went official with their relationship nearly seven years ago. They first stepped out at an awards ceremony in Munich in December 2017.
LEARNING TO TRUST: SON MICK’S GIRLFRIEND GRANTED ‘INNER CIRCLE’ ACCESS
Michael and Corinna’s youngest son, Mick, could give the family another reason to draw closer again once more – with another family wedding rumoured to be in the pipeline for 2025.
Mick Schumacher’s long-term girlfriend Laila Hasanovic has reportedly been welcomed into the Schumacher family – and is the first girlfriend of the F1 star to have met his father
Laila has spent time with Corinna Schumacher (pictured right), suggesting that she has been welcomed into the inner family circle
Mick Schumacher, the couple’s son, appears to become engaged this week to long-term girlfriend Laila Hasanovic
Cryptic: The Danish model (right) appeared to suggest that she could be heading down the aisle next year, after sharing a photo with a ring on her engagement finger (left)
Mick’s long-term girlfriend, Danish lingerie model Laila Hasanovic, 24, has posted a photo showing off a diamond ring to her 337k followers – with the cryptic words: ‘Then it’s game over’.
F1 reserve driver Mick, 25 and Laila have been together for 18 months, and, according to German newspaper Bild, she is the only one of his girlfriends who has been allowed to visit Michael .
The model got her first social media campaign at the age of 16 for watch company Daniel Wellington
Pictured: Laila, Sabine Kehm, and Michael’s wife Corinna Schumacher during the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship in Qatar in March)
Pictured: Laila, Sabine Kehm, and Michael’s wife Corinna Schumacher during the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship in Qatar in March)
The 24-year-old was born in Bosnia but grew up in a small town in Denmark before moving to Copenhagen at 19
The Danish model has been spotted by the side of her future mother-in-law Corinna in recent weeks, suggesting she is now in the Schumacher inner circle
Bild says the family are ‘smitten’ with the model, who is regularly included in their family plans.
Mick and Laila are often seen soaking up the sun on tropical islands or dressed to the nines at glitzy hotels and restaurants and have even been spotted by eagle-eyed fans walking hand-in-hand at a number of F1 races.
The two have never shied away from declaring their love to the world and have been seen enjoying double dates with Mick’s long-time pal, F1 driver Esteban Ocon, and his girlfriend.