'Michael Schumacher may never recover'

Former Formula One chief medical officer has said that he believes that the comatose Michael Schumacher will never recover as there have been 'serious lapses of judgment' in his ongoing medical care.

The retired seven-time German champion has now been in a coma for 87 days since a ski accident at the French Alps during a family holiday and is undergoing treatment at a Grenoble hospital.

According to News.com.au, Formula One’s chief doctor between 2005 and 2012, Gary Hartstein said that it is now unlikely that the Ferrari legend would ever recover as he had information from 'usually impeccable sources' that Schumacher's care had been mismanaged.

Schumacher suffered serious brain injuries after hitting his head on a rock when skiing off-piste in the exclusive French resort of Meribel at the end of December, with attempts to bring him out of his medically-induced coma now in an eighth week.

The 45-year-old’s manager Sabine Kehm confirmed that attempts to awaken the champion are continuing and will do for “as long as it takes”, warning that it can be a very long and drawn out process.

Stating that it becomes less likely that Schumacher will emerge to any significant extent as time goes on, Hartstein said that the lapses 'could, and almost certainly did, worsen the outcome in the Formula One legend's case'.

Hartstein also said that the 'terribly dismal prognosis' of Schumacher's long-term recovery prospects had led to the doctors at the Grenoble hospital discouraging his family to transfer him to a specialised clinic better equipped to deal with people in long-term comas.

Hartstein also said that it is also possible that the staff at Grenoble hospital felt duty-bound to not place any pressure on the family to transfer Schumacher to another hospital because of the 'clear (but unquantifiable) contribution of medical misjudgment to that prognosis'.