Michael Schumacher’s daughter sends heartbreaking message as she wishes her Formula One legend father a happy 57th birthday – 12 years on from tragic skiing accident
Michael Schumacher’s daughter Gina-Maria shared a poignant tribute to her Formula One legend father on his 57th birthday, just over 12 years on from the horrific skiing accident that saw him withdraw from public life.
Since leaving hospital in September 2014 after gradually being withdrawn from his medically induced coma, Schumacher’s medical condition has been kept private from his legions on fans with his family maintaining a strict code of privacy.
While details of his day-to-day recovery have been scant, his two children – including fellow racing driver Mick – have publicly shown that he has never far from their thoughts on social media.
Schumacher turned 57 on January 3, and equestrian Gina-Maria was keen to honour him with a new photograph of the family from her childhood.
Posing with her father, brother, and mother Corinna in the sweet snap, Gina-Maria chose to caption the photo: ‘The best forever. Happy birthday, Dad! (red heart emoji)’.
Gina-Maria also shared the post to her Instagram Story, accompanying it with another single red heart emoji.
Michael Schumacher’s daughter Gina-Maria shared a sweet photograph in honour of her father’s birthday
The 28-year-old has helped her family maintain a private atmosphere around his condition
Now based predominantly in the United States, where Gina-Maria competes and breeds horses at the family ranch in Gordonville, Texas, the 28-year-old last year welcomed her first child with husband Iain Bethke, a daughter named Millie.
Gina-Maria and Bethke got married in September 2024 at the Schumacher family’s luxury villa in Majorca, which they bought for £27million in 2017.
Announcing Millie’s birth on social media, Gina-Maria and Bethke wrote on Instagram: ‘Welcome to the world, Millie Born on March 29th, our hearts are fuller than ever. We are beyond blessed to have you in our lives.’
Gina-Maria’s post comes just days after a close friend of Schumacher’s from his racing days shed more light on the rules for visitors within the family’s inner circle to maintain the utmost privacy.
Corinna and the family have been forced to maintain the strict guidelines amid multiple attempts to leak details by medical staff or employees, with the family falling victim to a blackmail attempt which threatened to leak details concerning his health to the public in 2025.
Three men including Schumacher’s former bodyguard Markus Fritsche, were on trial after hard drives containing confidential pictures, videos and medical records were stolen from a computer.
Nightclub bouncer Yilmaz Tozturkan, and his IT expert son Daniel Lins, denied blackmail and insisted they were offering the Schumacher family a ‘business deal’.
In February, Tozturkan was sentenced to three years in prison, but is free on €10,000 bail, while Lins was given a six-month suspended sentence, and after denying any involvement, Fritsche was given a two-year suspended sentence.
Last year saw Gina-Maria and her husband Iain Bethke welcome their first daughter, Millie
The Schumacher family are close-knit, with brother Mick and mother Corinna similarly discreet
Former Red Bull Head of Operations Richard Hopkins shared last week: ‘I think (the arrangement is) fairly clear. There are only two, three, four people that we know of (who can visit Schumacher). There are probably others.
‘Michael had friendships with people who weren’t owners of Formula One teams, or racing drivers, so I’m sure there are people who probably see him that we just don’t know about, because we don’t know their names.’
Hopkins denied claims that Schumacher is under strict daily security, adding that he was sure the seven-time world champion was ‘not behind armed guards at his bedroom door’.
‘But there are fairly strict rules, and we don’t talk about those rules,’ he added.
