Formula 1 legend Eddie Jordan has opened up about close friend Michael Schumacher — saying the stricken star is “there, but not there” as mystery surrounds his health.
The 74-year-old gave the German his big break in F1 when the then 22-year-old racer made his debut with Jordan in the Belgian Grand Prix in 1991, The Sun reports.
Watch Every Practice, Qualifying & Race of the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship™ Live on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
Michael would go on to break all the records – winning seven world championships and 91 races while driving for Ferrari and Benetton.
But the 54-year-old racing legend has not been seen or heard from for nearly 10 years after his horror ski crash back in 2013.
He was left with a severe brain injury and in a medically induced coma.
Mystery surrounds his condition — with his family imposing a strict “family only” rule on who can visit him.
And it came as Michael’s son Mick followed in his dad’s footsteps into F1.
But the young driver, 23, struggled and lost his race seat at the end of 2022 after a series of crashes for the Haas team.
Eddie was denied a visit to see Michael — but has kept up contact with Mick.
The F1 boss said his “love” for the seven-time world champion “still lasts and will always do so while I’m able to draw breath” in a chat with sports betting firm OLBG.
And last year, he revealed his son Mick had reached out to him.
“As far as I’m concerned, I was touched by it and the reason I was touched by it was because it can’t be easy knowing that your father is not able to be part of the family, he’s there but he’s not there,” said Jordan.
Jordan explained that Mick spoke about his father in glowing terms as he was enduring his own struggles in F1.
“It touched me because I felt so much about Michael, I went out of my way to find him, give him his first chance in Spa, didn’t last very long but that love for him still lasts and will always do so while I’m able to draw breaths,” said Eddie.
Mick — who was dropped by Haas in favour of veteran driver Nico Hulkenberg for 2023 — is now a reserve driver at Mercedes.
He will be backing up Sir Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, potentially stepping in for them if they have to miss a race.
In a touching link to his dad, Mercedes is the team that Michael ended his career with — having a brief three-season comeback from 2010 to 2012 after his initial retirement in 2006.
Schuey is credited with helping to lay the foundations of the Silver Arrows as they went on to dominate the sport — winning eight constructors’ and seven drivers’ titles — between 2014 and 2021.
Eddie however believes Mick could find his way back into a full-time race seat.
“He’s been dropped for somebody else, and that’s a tough decision, he has another fight to come back and to make his name, climb up that ladder again,” he said.
“I’m quite sure he will do it.”
Jordan also revealed Michael named his son after legendary sportsman Mick Doohan.
He said Mick was given his name “as a mark of respect” to the Aussie five-time MotoGP world champion.
“Mick Schumacher isn’t named after his dad like a lot of people seem to think,” he said.
“Mick Schumacher is named after a person who his father, Michael, was in total awe of, a sportsman who had won five world titles back to back with Honda.
“And that is no other than Mick Doohan.
“As a mark of respect, Michael Schumacher called his son Mick.”
Last year, Jordan revealed Michael’s wife denied him a visit to see the Formula 1 legend after his horror skiing accident.
His wife Corinna keeps his condition a closely guarded secret with strict rules about who’s allowed to see him.
Corinna prefers to treat her husband privately at their home in Geneva, Switzerland with ex-Ferrari boss Jean Todt one of the few people allowed to see him outside his immediate family.
Jordan said he contacted Corinna, who was once the girlfriend of his team’s driver Heinz Harold Frentzenm, before she went on to marry Schumacher.
He told the Irish Daily Mirror: “I reached out and one stage asked was it appropriate and did I think we should go and visit him.
“The answer was no. No visitations for anyone at that moment except the actual direct family.
“However, since then, young Mick Schumacher — Michael’s son — has reached out to me, and he has been extraordinary.”
— This story originally appeared on thesun.co.uk and has been republished with permission