'French paparazzi' invading Schumacher privacy

Jun.1 - Sabine Kehm has pointed the finger at the "French paparazzi" for trying to invade Michael Schumacher's privacy.

It emerged last week that ever since the F1 legend returned to his luxury Swiss villa on Lake Geneva last September, the media has gone to great lengths to capture an image of him.

Der Spiegel reported that photographers almost constantly hide in the nearby woods with long lenses, or attempt to catch a glimpse of the seven time world champion in low-flying helicopters.

Roger Benoit, the long-serving F1 correspondent for the Swiss newspaper Blick, said prying photographers are even using "drones" to fly over the property.

"It is mainly the French paparazzi who are not respecting Michael's privacy," Kehm, Schumacher's long-time media aide and manager, commented.

Benoit reported that, to tackle the problem, the Schumacher family has had to tint the external windows of their villa.

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone says he has not seen the great 46-year-old German since his skiing crash in late 2013.

"I remember him as he was before," said the Briton. "And I really want to see him like that again."

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Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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