Breaking New: Michael Schumacher’s doctor says F1 hero could recover in three years

A French doctor who treated Michael Schumacher after the F1 champ's ski accident has predicted a possible recovery within three years.

Jean-Francois Payen, a doctor at the Grenoble hospital that treated Schumacher after his injury in December 2013, visited the Schumacher family at home in Switzerland.

The 45-year-old is being treated at home after spending six months in a medically-induced coma following the accident in Meribel, France.

Dr Payen, who cared for Schumacher for six months after the crash, said the former race car driver is no longer in a coma and is slowly getting better.

'Life after a head injury is punctuated by stages,' Payen told RTL radio on Thursday. He predicted a convalescence of one to three years.

'We hope, but we have to give him time.'

It comes after Schumacher's 15-year-old son Mick earlier this month passed on news that his father was 'waking up very slowly.'

French F1 commentator Jean-Louis Moncet told Europe 1 radio station: 'I saw his son and he told me that Schumi is waking up very slowly; very slowly.

'Although things are going at a slow pace, he has a lot of time, I would say he has his whole life in front of him to get back on track.

Recovering: Michael Schumacher could recover from his brain injury within three years, says a doctor who treated him just after his ski accident

The seven times world champion returned to his home with his wife and children two months ago after being discharged from a rehabilitation clinic in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Schumacher spent time in the rehab clinic after coming out of his medically-induced coma following the accident, which left him with catastrophic brain injuries.

Updates on his condition have been few and far between. After he was moved home, Schumacher's manager Sabine Kehm said there was a 'long and difficult' road ahead.

Schumacher poses with his wife Corinna: The former F1 champ is being cared for by a team of 15 experts at his home at a cost of £100,000 a month. It is understood he remains immobile and unable to speak

Former Ferrari boss Jean Todt visited Schumacher last month, saying: 'What's important is that he lives and that his family is with him. We really believe that things will get better. He needs time and to be left alone. 

'In the past weeks and months, he has made progress in relation to the severity of his injury,' said Todt, now president of the International Automobile Federation.

'But a long and hard road is in front of him. Hopefully things will improve. His family is close to him. He needs time and peace.'

Schumacher is being cared for by a team of 15 experts at his home. It is understood he remains immobile and unable to speak.

His care is estimated to be costing his family £100,000 per month.

At the end of the year his father Rolf is moving from his home in Germany into a specially constructed residence built for him in the grounds of the £35million Schumacher mansion at Gland, on the shores of Lake Geneva.