Michael Schumacher's classy gesture revealed as former F1 driver tells all
F1 icon Michael Schumacher hasn't been seen in public for over a decade
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F1 pundit Karun Chandhok has revealed the warm welcome he received from Michael Schumacher when making his Grand Prix debut back in 2010.
Chandhok made his debut appearance 13 years ago while racing for HRT and Lotus.
Schumacher was a rival for the 39-year-old at the time, having come out of retirement in order to race for Mercedes.
Despite that, however, Chandhok has claimed the German gave him a brilliant welcome and did everything to help him adjust to life in the spotlight.
Former F1 star Karun Chandhok has lavished praise on Michael Schumacher
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Speaking to OLBG, the Sky pundit said: “When I did my first F1 race in Bahrain in 2010....Michael was the first driver that said hello to me and said 'welcome to F1'.
"He then spent five minutes just chatting, asking about my background and where I was from and wished me luck for my season.
“He didn't need to do that.
"This was the race where he was making his big comeback with Mercedes and at that time he was the biggest star."
He added: “I was a nobody, he didn't need to do that and I always really appreciated that, the fact he took that five minutes to make me feel welcome in the sport.
"He was a great guy and a fantastic driver."
Chandok also said that Schumacher was 'one of my heroes' and that he appreciated the 54-year-old's 'utter brilliance'.
These days, little is known about the F1 icon and his condition.
Back in 2013, while skiing in the French Alps, Schumacher went off course and hit his head on a rock.
If he hadn't been wearing a helmet he could have died and he was then put in a medically induced coma.
Schumacher was allowed home months after the accident as he continued to recover.
A decade on, however, and he's still not been seen in public with the family understandably preferring to keep information private.
Johnny Herbert raced alongside Schumacher for Ferrari at the peak of the German's success.
And he recently provided a devastating update by saying: "There’s never any news. What we do know is we never hear any positive news.
"That’s the horrible thought that he is still not able to be close to the Michael that we all remember. And that is very sad."
Schumacher would often smoke cigars with journalist Roger Benoit after F1 races.
And Benoit said last month that the 54-year-old was a 'case without hope'.
"No," he told German newspaper Blick whether he could provide a specific update on Schumacher.
"There is only one answer to this question and that is what his son Mick gave in one of his rare interviews in 2022: 'I would give anything to talk to dad'.
"This sentence says everything about how his father has been doing for over 3,500 days.
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Michael Schumacher won seven F1 titles during his prime years in the sport
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"A case without hope."
Schumacher's wife, Corinna, said in a 2021 documentary that her husband was 'different' from before.
"Michael is here. Different, but he’s here, and that gives us strength, I find," she revealed.
"We’re together. We live together at home. We do therapy. We do everything we can to make Michael better and to make sure he’s comfortable.
"And to simply make him feel our family, our bond. And no matter what, I will do everything I can. We all will."