Barrichello blocked from seeing Schumacher: "They said it will not do any good"

Barrichello blocked from seeing Schumacher: “They said it will not do any good”. The pair were at the Maranello team between 2000 and 2005.

Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello (2004 Bahrain Grand Prix)

Brazilian racing driver who competed in Formula One between 1993 and 2011, Rubens Barrichello, admitted that he was blocked from trying to see his old Scuderia Ferrari team mate Michael Schumacher. The pair were at the Maranello team between 2000 and 2005, but in late 2013 Michael Schumacher injured his brain in a skiing accident.

“I don’t have any news. I tried to find a way to visit him, but they said to me ‘It will not do you or him any good’.” – Rubens Barrichello said, as reported by Brazil’s Globo – “So I don’t have any news.” – he added.

Skiing accident
There remains huge respect for the seven-time Formula 1 champion and Scuderia Ferrari legend who, more than four years after a near-fatal brain injury in a skiing accident, is still being cared for at home in the quiet Swiss town of Gland on the shores of Lake Geneva. He’s been treated there since September 2014. The thick forest surrounding his castle-like home provides sanctuary from fan and media intrusion with high surrounding walls.

While his family fiercely protects his privacy, Michael Schumacher’s reputation still towers over F1, and fans of all ages continue to adore him: “What can be said is that the family really appreciates the empathy of the fans,” Michael Schumacher’s manager Sabine Kehm told The Associated Press. “The people really do see and understand (his health situation) is not to be shared in the public eye.” The current condition of the 49-year-old German’s health remains closely guarded. Kehm would not comment on it when asked by the AP.

On March 18, 2012 Schumacher began the last season of his F1 career at the Australian GP in Melbourne. He secured the last of his mammoth 155 podiums that year at the European GP in Valencia on June 24, 2012, before retiring definitively at the age of 43. In his last race Michael Schumacher finished seventh behind Sebastian Vettel. It felt somewhat like a changing of the guard, with Sebastian Vettel growing up with posters of his German countryman on his wall.

A little more than a year later, Schumacher was fighting for his life.