Formula 1 racing legend Michael Schumacher received heartfelt greetings from his children on the day of his 55th birthday on January 3, 2024. Both Gina-Maria and Mick Schumacher posted heartwarming messages and throwback photos of their younger selves enjoying some fun moments with their father.
Gina-Maria is the spitting image of her father
Michael's daughter, Gina-Maria, is now 26 years old and is an accomplished equestrienne. Her social media accounts are peppered with photos and videos from her competitions, but she decided to post a touching tribute to her father on his birthday.
She shared a photo of herself flanked by her younger brother Mick and her father. One could not help but notice the uncanny resemblance between Michael and his daughter. Their faces bear almost the exact same features, especially as they beamed side-by side in the photo.
Gina captioned the post: "Happy Birthday Papa! throwback to one of many of our adventures."
She didn't explain when or where the photo was taken, but the three of them appear to be inside a small plane. They all had what appears to be parachutes strapped to their backs, which may mean that they are out on a skydiving adventure at the time.
Mick shares a glimpse of his early racing career
Schumacher's son, Mick, who now has a racing career of his own, also took to social media to take a moment to greet his father. The 24-year-old took a look back at his early days in karting and shared a photo of himself and Michael which appears to have been taken from one of their days out on a race track.
Both were wearing race suits and helmets, with a very young Mick giving a thumbs up towards the camera. Michael meanwhile, was looking proudly at his son with a smile evident in his eyes despite having the helmet on.
Mick wrote a message on the Instagram Story saying: "Happy birthday to the best Dad ever. Love you!"
More greetings come in from the F1 community
Michael had a long illustrious career which spanned two decades. He won seven Drivers' World Championship titles while racing for Benetton and Scuderia Ferrari, but he spent his final seasons in F1 with the Mercedes team.
On the day of his birthday, Mercedes also took to social media to greet their former driver and offer some words of encouragement. They shared a post on X (formerly Twitter), which featured a photo of Michael wearing his Mercedes race suit. Behind him, one of his former Mercedes cars could be seen in the background.
Happy Birthday, Michael ❤️ Today marks the @F1 legend's 55th birthday#KeepFightingMichael pic.twitter.com/rOoUSmo0QJ
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) January 3, 2024
In the caption, Mercedes wrote: "Happy Birthday, Michael. Today marks the @F1 legend's 55th birthday. #KeepFightingMichael."
The hashtag #KeepFightingMichael is of course something that has been used frequently on social media whenever there are posts about Schumacher.
Bittersweet milestone
The legendary F1 racer turned 55 just days after the 10th anniversary of his tragic ski accident. It may be remembered that on December 29, 2013, he was out skiing off-piste at the Meribel resort in the French Alps when he met an accident.
He crashed into a boulder head-first, with an impact so strong that his helmet split. Despite wearing protective gear, his injuries were so severe that he had to be airlifted to a nearby hospital. He underwent two emergency surgeries and was later put in an induced coma to help his brain recover from the swelling.
He was in a coma for about six months before doctors deemed that he was stable enough to be eased out of the coma and flown to a medical facility in Switzerland near where the family home is located. He was eventually officially discharged from the Swiss hospital in September 2014. However, treatment was arranged to be continued privately at the family's Lake Geneva estate.
Since then, the status of his health has been shrouded in mystery and updates have been few and far between. Apart from the immediate family, very few people have been able to gain access to Michael since the accident. One of them is close friend and former Ferrari team boss, Jean Todt.
The Frenchman has also remained mum about the status of Schumacher's health, but he has always spoken about enjoying his visits with his former driver.
Mick shared a heartbreaking comment in the Netflix documentary about his father, saying that he would give anything just to be able to speak to his father about his own racing career. This gave an indication that Michael is not as verbal as one would hope.
Ten years since the accident, fans are still hoping to receive positive updates about Michael's health and are also hoping to one day catch a glimpse of him. However, his family have maintained that they will keep things private.
