Michael Schumacher's rarely-seen last interview before skiing accident resurfaces after latest health update

Footage from the last interview conducted by Michael Schumacher before his 2013 skiing accident has re-surfaced.

Schumacher was airlifted to hospital on December 29, 2013 after suffering a traumatic brain injury while skiing in the French Alps.

He was placed in a medically-induced coma until June 2014, and has been cared for at a private property by his family and medical staff since then.

Few updates have been released on Schumacher's condition as his family strive to protect his privacy, while only a small 'inner circle' have access to the seven-time F1 world champion.

His former Benetton team boss Flavio Briatore spoke out about the German earlier this week in an interview with Corriere della Sera.

He said: "If I close my eyes, I see him smiling after a victory.

"I prefer to remember him like that, rather than him just lying on a bed. Corinna [Schumacher's wife] and I talk often, though."

Schumacher retired from Formula 1 at the end of the 2012 season, and as such kept a relatively low profile throughout most of 2013.

He had been convinced to come out of his first retirement, which had lasted since the end of 2006, to drive for the Mercedes team in 2010.

The Silver Arrows had bought reigning champions Brawn GP from former Benetton and Ferrari supremo Ross Brawn, and wanted Schumacher to partner with another German driver in Nico Rosberg.

While Schumacher did not quite possess quite the consistent speed that saw him win seven world titles with Benetton and Ferrari, he still showed flashes of brilliance and was, more often than not, let down by his car and reliability issues.

In 2012, at the age of 43, he was in position to potentially win several races before reliability problems struck, while he even set the fastest lap in Monaco qualifying before receiving a five-place grid penalty.

His replacement at Mercedes was Lewis Hamilton, who went on to win six Drivers' Championship titles with the team before leaving for Ferrari at the end of 2024.

Schumacher stayed largely out of the limelight during that season, but did conduct two interviews in October with BBC Sport and German outlet RTL.

And he also answered 10 different questions from his fans about his F1 career on October 30, 2013.

Notably, the footage from the interview was not released in any form at the time, but was posted on Schumacher's official website in 2018 to mark his 50th birthday.

It is the last known interview he gave before his skiing accident.

He said: "Records is one thing. Doubts, I think it is very important to not be over-confident, to be sceptical. To look for improvements, to look for the next step.

"I always felt, 'I'm not good enough. I need to work on myself'. And I guess that was one of the recipes that made me one of the greats.

"Talent in motorsport, as in any sport, is important. But that's not all. You really need to develop lots of different skills.

Karting is a good base not just to prove your talent, but also to find out the other needs as a racing driver."

He was also asked about his three years at Mercedes and how he helped to shape the team ahead of their dominance for much of the next decade - as well as how that compared to his time at Benetton and Ferrari.

"If you go back to the various teams I've been driving for," he began. "The missions - with Benetton, after four to five years, building it up, winning the championship.

"The same for Ferrari. We tried the same with Mercedes, in lesser time.

"Is there one thing in common? I have to say yes, there is. Ross Brawn. Think about it."