Schumacher’s condition stable but still critical

Three days after suffering serious head injuries in a skiing accident in the French Alps, Michael Schumacher is still in critical condition, despite showing signs of improvement, his agent said.

Speaking to reporters outside the hospital in Grenoble in France, Sabine Kehm said: "Michael's condition has been supervised all the night and has remained stable over the night and also now."

"The good news for today is we do not have the feeling to hold a press conference because there's no significant changes."

This has also been confirmed by doctors, who said that while his condition improved, he is nevertheless, still "not out of danger."

The German former Formula One driver, who turns 45 on Friday, suffered critical head injuries when he fell and struck a rock on Sunday while skiing on a family holiday in the French Alps. He was taken first to a local hospital, then to Grenoble University Hospital.

He remains in a medically induced coma after undergoing a second surgery on Monday night after a brain scan showed small, "surprising" signs of improvement. His body temperature has also been lowered to between 34 and 35 degrees Celsius to reduce swelling in his brain.

His agent confirmed that the accident cracked his helmet, which doctors credited for giving him a chance of surviving.

Earlier, Ms Kehm said: "It looks like probably that initiating a corner, he was hitting a stone which he had not seen and was catapulted down on a rock.

"That is extremely and very unfortunate... really very, very bad luck. Michael was not at high speed."

Schumacher won seven world championships and secured 91 race victories during a 19-year career in Formula 1.

The German retired from the sport in 2006 but returned in 2010 with Mercedes, only to retire again at 2012.