Michael Schumacher is going to be awarded the North-Rhine Westphalia State Prize, the highest award available to a person from his home region in Germany.
The special award, given to one person per year in the NRW region, is to honour of one of the most successful careers in the history of Formula 1, with only Lewis Hamilton matching his World title tally.
The award ceremony is due to take place in Cologne and, with Schumacher having not been seen publicly since his major skiing accident back in 2013, his wife Corinna is due to accept the award in his place.
His children Mick, now driving for Haas in Formula 1, and Gina are also set to attend, along with long-time Ferrari colleague and former FIA president, Jean Todt.
“Michael Schumacher’s work as a sportsman and as a supporter of good causes radiates far beyond the borders of his home state of North Rhine-Westphalia,” NRW Minister President Hendrik Wust said, as quoted by Sky Deutschland.
He added that the seven-time World Champion is one of the “outstanding personalities in the history of sport worldwide”, and that he “never lost his grip on the ground and always kept his fellow human beings in mind” in life outside of Formula 1.
#OnThisDay a decade ago (! 🤯), @alo_oficial rose from P11 on the grid in Valencia to take arguably his best, and most emotional, #F1 victory.
Michael Schumacher also earned his 155th and final podium finish 🏆 pic.twitter.com/nN8akcwOfF
— PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) June 24, 2022
Even throughout his career, Schumacher’s private life has always been closely guarded, and the extent of his injuries are not known.
Former Ferrari team principal Ross Brawn said previously that he feels Schumacher would have thrived in the new era of Formula 1, given the technical intricacies in place in the new generation of cars, combined with the level of analysis he used to put into his driving.
“That would have been right up his alley,” Brawn told Sport Bild last month.
“He used to be the last person to leave the paddock on Saturday night before the race. He sat with me and the engineers for hours on dates and numbers. He would be fascinated to analyse all this with the engineers.
“He would be great in this new era. Michael would love the new Formula 1.”
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