Only nine people can now visit Michael Schumacher.

      We have already reported that an appeals trial has begun in Wuppertal, Germany, in connection with the blackmail case involving Michael Schumacher’s family. More than a year ago the German public prosecutor brought charges against three men who, it is alleged, took part in a conspiracy to demand €15 million and threatened to publish private photo and video material on the darknet.

      At least in some of the footage the former Formula 1 driver is shown chained to his bed after the severe traumatic brain injury he suffered on a ski slope in the French Alps in December 2013.

      Michael’s wife, Corinna Schumacher, has learned from this unpleasant episode and has limited the number of people allowed to visit the seven-time world champion.

      According to the German paper Bild, the “inner circle” now includes Corinna herself, Michael’s children — Mick and Gina-Maria — the driver’s former manager Sabine Kehm, Jean Todt, Ross Brawn, Gerhard Berger, Luca Badoer and Felipe Massa. Visits to Michael Schumacher are now forbidden to everyone else.

      “A breach of trust has led the family to keep a greater distance from the people who work for them and to be more cautious,” Sabine Kehm commented on the new restrictions. “Personally, I find it utterly treacherous that some people try to exploit suffering in this way, so it is understandable why the family is taking a tougher line with those close to them.

      Corinna watches everything that happens around the family with bitterness. And it is obvious that some media will again try to send photographers. That is what has prompted the restrictions.”