F1 legend Michael Schumacher 'out of coma'
Baku, June 16 (AZERTAC). F1 champion Michael Schumacher has left hospital in Grenoble and is no longer in a coma, his family says.
The 45-year-old has been transferred to Lausanne university hospital in Switzerland, officials there say.
Schumacher was placed in a medically induced coma after suffering a severe head injury in a skiing accident in the French Alps on 29 December.
His family thanked people who had sent messages of support, saying: "We are sure it helped him."
They also praised the "excellent job" of medical staff at the hospital in Grenoble, in south-east France.
Doctors had kept the seven-time champion in a coma to help reduce swelling in his brain.
"Michael has left the CHU Grenoble to continue his long phase of rehabilitation. He is not in a coma anymore," Schumacher's manager, Sabine Kehm, said in a statement on behalf of his family on Monday.
"For the future we ask for understanding that his further rehabilitation will take place away from the public eye," she said, without giving further details.
Relatives have previously warned that "it was clear from the start that this will be a long and hard fight for Michael".
The Mercedes team, for which Schumacher raced in the last three years of his career, posted on Twitter: "Encouraging news on Michael's condition this morning. We couldn't ask for a better start to the week."
He won two titles with Benetton, in 1994 and 1995, before switching to Ferrari in 1996 and going on to win five straight titles from 2000.
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