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Schumi silence fuels bad news

GRENOBLE, France - Former Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher's manager has dismissed the latest round of speculation about the F1 legend - speculation itself fuelled by his family's silence.

Media reports in Spain have quoted Schumacher's manager Sabine Kehm stating that the seven-times champion was now able to "interact" with his "immediate surroundings".

By June 2014, it has been more than 150-days since Schumacher went into a coma  after hitting head against rocks during a skiing fall in December 2013.

Kehm told Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport: "I have never spoken with these journalists and we have not issued any statement about Michael's health."

'SILENT FOR WEEKS'

Some authorities believe speculation about Schumacher's condition is being fuelled by the complete lack of official information  from his family and management.

Roger Benoit, a long-serving member of the F1 media contingent, wrote in Blick newspaper: "Slowly, everybody is really worried. Grenoble and the family have been silent for weeks.

"Why?"

Also critical of the Schumacher camp's media strategy is Gary Hartstein, a former F1 doctor.

He feared the worst: "I can conceive of no possible reason why Michael's entourage, understandably extremely protective of his and their privacy, would not tell his fans if significantly good things had happened."

He said that, almost six months into a coma of Schumacher's magnitude, "only a tiny, tiny fraction" of patients ever regain consciousness.

Hartstein added: "I'm quite afraid, virtually certain, we will never have any good news about Michael.  At this point I rather dread seeing the family put out a release to the news media."
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