Philippe Bianchi, the father of the late Manor Marussia driver Jules Bianchi, has a message for the family of seven-time Formula One, or F1, World Champion Michael Schumacher. As Schumacher continues to recuperate from the severe injuries he sustained in a skiing accident, the elder Bianchi urges the fans and the family of the stricken F1 legend not to lose hope.

Philippe recently granted an interview to France’s RMC, GrandPrix.com reports. Like Schumacher’s family, Philippe went through tough times when his son, Jules, got into a high-speed crash at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. Jules, who drove for F1 outfit Marussia Manor, died on July 17 following a nine-month-long fight for survival. He made it clear that he doesn’t have any accurate information about the current health condition of Schumacher, but he urged the family of the German racing legend not to give up.

“I have no news about him (Schumacher) so I can’t comment on anything because we don’t know what the sources (of the Schumacher news) are,” Philippe said. “For what I can say, it is to not let go, so long as Michael is still there, he fights.”

Philippe regarded Schumacher as the “greatest champion” that the sporting world of motor racing has ever seen. He said that Jules was extremely saddened when Schumacher got into the catastrophic skiing accident. The elder Bianchi added that he prays that Schumacher will survive his long ordeal. As long as Schumacher is alive, there is reportedly hope that the former Mercedes and Ferrari driver will be able to recover.

Recently, a new report has surfaced claiming that the progress of Schumacher’s rehabilitation is still very slow. UK’s Daily Express reports that Schumacher’s body weight has now dropped to 45 kilogrammes. The report further said that the German is still unable to talk or walk on his own.

In December 2013, Schumacher was vacationing with his family in the French Alps. While skiing, Schumacher hit his head on a rock, and even though he had a helmet on, the accident caused severe injuries to his brain. He was put in a medically induced coma for almost six months.

Schumacher has since regained consciousness from the coma and is currently recuperating in a medical facility that was custom-built for him in his Lake Geneva mansion. It has been previously reported that he received round-the-clock care from a team of 15 medical specialists including doctors, nurses and therapists.

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