Michael Schumacher's family awarded huge payment over controversial fake interview

The family of F1 legend Michael Schumacher have reportedly received a huge payout over a bizarre fake interview that was published in a magazine.

Schumacher, a record-equalling seven-time F1 world champion, suffered a severe brain injury after a skiing incident in the French Alps in December 2013.

The German was placed in an induced coma, with doctors stating in a press conference that the impact was 'a very violent shock' and that his life was saved by wearing a helmet.

Since being brought out of the induced coma in June 2014, very little public information has been given about Schumacher's condition due to his family's desire to protect his privacy as he recovers.

He is visited regularly by his former Ferrari team principal Jean Todt, who told L'Equipe last year that Schumacher is 'not the Michael he used to be' but that 'he is different, and wonderfully guided by his wife and children'. The pair still watch races together.

In April 2023, German magazine Die Aktuelle published a fake interview with Schumacher, and claimed that they used AI to predict a conversation between the F1 legend and reporters.

Unsurprisingly, legal representatives for Schumacher's family quickly launched legal action against the publishers of the interview, with the magazine later sacking its editor and sending out a public apology for the 'tasteless and misleading article'.

The cover of the magazine in question, although containing a note that says the interview is 'deceptively real', shows a smiling Schumacher, and promises 'answers from him'. The quotes were AI-generated.

The legal case was sent to Ubermedien, a publication that deals with legal issues relating to the media.

They have ordered the publishers to pay Schumacher's family a sum of £170,000, ruling that the show of remorse from Die Aktuelle 'did not constitute adequate action'.

Schumacher won a once-record 91 races during his F1 career - a record that he held for nearly 20 years from 2001 before Lewis Hamilton surpassed it in 2020.

He won seven world titles during his career, with five of those coming in consecutive years between 2000 and 2004.

After initially retiring from the sport at Ferrari in 2006, he came out of retirement for a three-season spell with Mercedes between 2010 and 2012.