In a brief statement, Michael Schumacher's spokesperson has said the German remains "stable" following his skiing accident in late December.

In the first comment for over a week, and following Corinna Schumacher's plea for her family, husband and those treating him to be left alone, Sabine Kehm said: ''Michael's family is very happy and confident with the work of the team of doctors treating Michael, and they trust them completely. Michael's condition is still considered as stable."

At a time of ever increasing speculation about the German's condition and how the situation might develop, some of it from 'experts', some of it not, but all of it from people not actually treating him or with access to the full situation, Kehm added: ''Any information regarding Michael's health not coming from the doctors treating him or from his management must be treated as pure speculation.''

While some have seized upon the fact that Kehm refers to his condition as "stable", omitting the word "critical", it should be noted that the last official comment from the Grenoble doctors treating him was on 6 January, the day before Corinna called on the media for understanding.

Chris Balfe