Formula One: Will legend Michael Schumacher ever recover?

Seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher was hospitalized December 29 after suffering "severe head trauma" from a ski accident in the French Alps. He is no longer in a coma and has since been transferred to a hospital in Lausanne, Switzerland for rehabilitation. Here we look back at some highlights of his career.

Schumacher made his F1 debut in 1991. Shortly after making his bow, the German posed for this photograph at the go-kart circuit in his hometown of Kerpen where he began his racing career.

Schumacher won his first world title with Benetton in 1994 -- he went on to repeat the feat the following season.

As a growing global celebrity, the German's fame took him away from the race track. Here he meets Pope John Paul II in 1999.

A move to Ferrari in 1996 was to bring more success for Schumacher, seen here meeting King Juan Carlos of Spain in 2001.

Schumacher won five world titles with Ferrari. The last of them -- his seventh overall -- came in 2005. His collection of world titles remains unbeaten in the sport's history.

Schumacher celebrated plenty of good times with the Italian scarlet racers and Ferrari continue to support his recovery with a #ForzaMichael digital campaign.

After retiring at the end of the 2006 season, Schumacher delighted his fans by making a surprise return to F1 in 2010. He was back to race for Mercedes at the age of 41.

The eighth world title Schumacher had dreamed of was not to materialize. The Mercedes car was largely uncompetitive and the German great retired for a second time at the end of 2012.

After his second retirement, Schumacher stayed out of the headlines but he was plunged back into the spotlight after his skiing accident in December 2013. The media and well-wishers soon gathered outside the Grenoble hospital where he began his treatment.

Sebastian Vettel (left) says it is hard to imagine that his former mentor Schumacher is still recovering from the effects of a skiing accident.

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(CNN) -- It's the elephant in the room of Formula One. Will Michael Schumacher ever recover from the serious head injury he suffered in a skiing accident six months ago?

The sport has continued its relentless rhythm unsure of what the future holds for its record-breaking former world champion, with the most recent update on his condition on the eve of June's Austrian Grand Prix travelling round the F1 community like Chinese whispers.

"Michael has left the [hospital in] Grenoble to continue his long phase of rehabilitation," read the June 16 statement from Schumacher's long-time manager and the family's spokeswoman Sabine Kehm.

"He is not in a coma anymore," added the statement, which was oblique enough to be left open to interpretation.

As the months have stretched on since the accident, so has the reluctance to openly discuss the state of Schumacher's health within the sport's inner circle.

 

 

 

Felipe Massa, who drove alongside Schumacher at Ferrari, has been to visit his former teammate in hospital on more than one occasion.

He found the news, as limited as it was, encouraging: "It's definitely positive that he's moved from the hospital and that he's going to another place that is specific for the recovery," the Williams driver told CNN ahead of this weekend's British Grand Prix

"I keep hoping that everything will be better and better all the time. The only thing I want is that the recovery takes as quick as possible and to see him here with us."

Red Bull's four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel has been cautious about making public statements on the health of his former mentor.

In Austria, the German broke his silence to reflect on the conflicting feelings of continuing his day job in F1 while the sport's seven-time world champion faces an even bigger challenge than the high-risk world of motor racing.

"It's been a long time and you try to follow as much as you can," Vettel told the media with an audible sigh as he searched to find the right words.

"It's very positive to hear but, like I said, it's been many, many weeks and months since the incident and obviously you find yourself busy in Formula One thinking about a lot of things.

"Sometimes it's crazy to imagine or realize that Michael is still in hospital and still fighting,

"Therefore it's good to finally have some good news and I hope that there will be more good news coming -- but I think it will still take a long time for his recovery."

In a sport of strategy, where risk and outcome are calculated in hundredths of seconds, the uncertainty and lack of knowledge about Schumacher, a global star, has hung like a pall over the sport.