Luca Badoer making 'regular visits' to see Michael Schumacher

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Former Ferrari driver Luca Badoer says that he is a regular visitor to Michael Schumacher's home to see the seven time world champion.

Schumacher continues to recover from a devastating skiing accident in December 2013 in the French Alps. The 49-year-old suffered serious head injuries after hitting his head on a rock, despite wearing a helmet at the time.

Schumacher has not been seen in public since that time, and information about his condition remains limited. But Badoer says he's seen his old friend on several occasions.

"I regularly visit him," the Italian told Diariodelweb.it this week.

"But the family wants to keep a sort of secrecy around him, and I fully respect their will.

"They do everything for the good of Michael," he added.

Fans and friends continue to hope for Schumacher recovery

Badoer explained that Schumacher's wife is in charge of who is allowed to spend time with the former Benetton, Ferrari and Mercedes driver.

"Corinna allows very few people to visit him," he said. "Let's respect what she wants, avoiding any polemic," he added.

Badoer's comments come just days after Rubens Barrichello had said he had been blocked from visiting his former long-time Maranello team mate.

"I tried to find a way to visit him," Barrichello told Brazil's Globo. "But they said to me 'It will not do you or him any good'.

"So I don't have any news," he added.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.