Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, 69, was the president of Ferrari from 2004 to 2014. In a recent event, he expressed how much he loves Michael Schumacher, 48, and how optimistic he was that the German retired racing driver would recover soon.
"I think a lot about him and I almost always wear a watch that he gave me," di Montezemolo told Corriere dello Sport, as cited by Daily Star, after an event celebrating 70 years of Ferrari. "I like him very much. As I know his strength, I dream that he will soon be among us again."
Schumacher was with Ferrari for 11 years. He and di Montezemolo were very connected, according to the latter, who was instrumental in the career of the F1 legend.
Aside from being Formula One World Champion for seven times, Schumacher was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year twice. He came close to an eighth title but he fell short to Fernando Alonso due to technical problems in the final two races in 2006. In the same year, he retired from Formula 1 driving and stayed with Ferrari as an advisor
In December 2013, Schumacher had a skiing accident in the French Alps and suffered a serious head injury that paralyzed him. Mercedes paid tribute to him with the "KeepFightingMichael" hashtag in the livery of the 2017 silver Formula 1 car.
However, the supportive message was recently removed. A Mercedes F1 team spokesman told the German newspaper Bild, as cited by Auto Week, that this was meant to "free the way for future usage of the message" and promised that Mercedes and Schumacher's family will still "work together on a variety of common activities, which will be communicated in time."
Watch Schumacher driving the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, the car that won the 2012 and 2013 Dubai 24 Hour under Black Falcon Racing, here: