FILE - In this Friday, Jan. 13, 2006 file photo, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher of Germany speeds down a course in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy. Schumacher is in this Italian Alps ski resort for the yearly meeting between Ferrari drivers and the press. French radio says retired Formula One champion Michael Schumacher has been injured in a skiing accident. RMC radio reported Sunday Dec. 29, 2013 that the seven-time champion had fallen while skiing off-piste at the French Alpine resort of Meribel. The radio quoted resort director Christophe Gernigon-Lecomte as saying that Schumacher was wearing a helmet when he fell and hit a rock. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)
December 29, 2013 - 7:05 AM
PARIS - Seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher sustained a head injury Sunday in a skiing accident in the French Alps, French authorities and his manager said Sunday.
The French Mountain Gendarmerie said Schumacher was wearing a helmet when he had a hard fall at the Meribel resort and that he sustained a "relatively serious" head injury. He was initially taken to a local hospital and later transferred to a hospital in the city of Grenoble.
In an email to The Associated Press, Schumacher's manager Sabine Kehm said the retired driver was on a private skiing trip and "fell on his head."
"We ask for understanding that we cannot give running updates on his condition. He wore a helmet and was not alone," Kehm said, without giving further details.
The French RMC radio had earlier quoted the resort director Christophe Gernigon-Lecomte as saying Schumacher fell while skiing off-piste. The gendarmerie, however, said the fall happened while he was on a trail.
Gernigon-Lecomte was quoted on the station's website as saying: "He was shocked, a little rattled, but conscious."
Gernigon-Lecomte did not immediately return calls requesting comment.
News from © The Associated Press, 2013