Michael Schumacher’s daughter Gina wished a happy 50th ‘to the best dad’ as the Formula One great marked a milestone birthday on Thursday.
The racing legend’s eldest child published the sweet tribute on Instagram as Schumacher turned 50 while still recovering from devastating brain injuries suffered during a skiing accident in 2013.
It comes a day after wife Corinna released a rare statement on Facebook telling fans that ‘we are doing everything humanly possible to help him’ in his recovery.
Michael Schumacher’s daughter Gina posted a sweet tribute to the racing legend on Instagram as he celebrated his 50th birthday on Thursday
Gina is Schumacher’s eldest child (pictured together) with wife Corinna. The pair also have another child, son Mick
Schumacher is pictured alongside Corinna (left) and Gina during a family holiday in the 90s
‘Please understand if we are following Michael’s wishes and keeping such a sensitive subject as health, as it has always been, in privacy.
‘At the same time we say thank you very much for your friendship and wish you a healthy and happy year 2019.’
Earlier in the statement, she thanked fans ‘from the bottom of our hearts’ and announced the launch, tomorrow, of the Official Michael Schumacher App.
The 49-year-old also said the family will celebrate the former Ferrari driver’s ‘victories, records and jubilation’ on his 50th.
Gina almost followed in her father’s footsteps after taking up professional karting, but instead decided to pursue her mother’s passion for horse riding
‘You can be sure that he is in the very best of hands and that we are doing everything humanly possible to help him,’ a Facebook statement said.
‘We are very happy to celebrate Michael’s 50th birthday tomorrow together with you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts that we can do this together,’ she wrote.
Ferrari, the team with which Schumacher is most synonymous, also paid tribute to him on Thursday with a photo of him wearing a branded polo shirt.
Alongside the picture, the team wrote: ‘Our champ turns 50 today. We’re all with you. Keep fighting.’
The Keep Fighting Foundation, which was established in the wake of Schumacher’s ski crash, has released the official Michael Schumacher app to mark his special day.
In a statement on their website, the foundation described the new app as a ‘digital grand prix of memories that adds an exciting dimension to the popular Michael Schumacher private collection exhibition at Motorworld Cologne-Rhineland’.
It comes after Schumacher’s wife Corinna (left, with her husband) issued a rare statement thanking fans ahead of the milestone birthday
Corinna Schumacher told the driver’s fans that ‘we are doing everything possible to help him’ as he battles to recover from a devastating ski accident in France in 2013
Ferrari wished Michael Schumacher a happy 50th birthday on Twitter on Thursday morning
The online museum is designed to honour the career of Schumacher and give fans a closer look at the man who won seven world championships during his distinguished career on the track.
Such statements are rare and in the past the family and their management team have insisted Schumacher’s health is a private matter.
The German Formula 1 great suffered life-changing head injuries in a ski accident in December 2013. He hit the right side of his head on a rock, splitting open his helmet when he fell while skiing.
Schumacher was rushed to hospital where he underwent several life-saving surgeries and spent the next six months in a coma.
In April 2014, he woke up and was taken from the hospital in Grenoble to a private location, believed to be his house near Lake Geneva, where he is being cared for.
The Keep Fighting Foundation have now released the official Michael Schumacher app
The German Formula 1 great (pictured with his wife, Corinna) suffered life-changing head injuries in a ski accident in December 2013
It is thought that Michael is being tended to by a team of 15 physicians who provide round-the-clock care at a cost of £115,000-per-week.
At the time of his release from hospital, his wife Corinna issued a statement asking for support in ‘our joint fight alongside Michael’, but said she would not be speaking further and asked for privacy.
The couple married in 1995 after meeting at a Ferrari party, and have two children together: Gina-Maria, 21, and Mick, 19, who races Formula Three.
Mick won the Formula Three championship with a race to spare in 2018, and will now make the move to Formula Two with Italian team, Prema this year.