2 weeks ago
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Michael Schumacher's nephew David Schumacher has announced his engagement to fellow racing driver Vivien Keszthelyi - bringing welcome news to the family following recent in-fighting and heartbreak since the Formula One legend's life-changing accident.
David, 24, who raced in the 2025 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup for the HRT Ford Performance team, proposed to Hungarian racer Vivien Keszthelyi, 24, during a trip to the Maldives.
The pair, who have been together for several years after meeting through a mutual friend, confirmed the news over the weekend by sharing romantic photos on Instagram of them barefoot on a beach.
'She said yes,' David wrote. 'The ocean witnessed our love, and the sunset sealed our promise. 05.11.2025.' Vivien added: 'Thank you all so much for your beautiful wishes and kind words! We're truly touched by all the love and support.'
David's father Ralf, 50 - younger brother of Michael and a six-time F1 race winner - was among the first to celebrate publicly by liking the post.
David Schumacher, nephew of Michael, has announced he is engaged to Vivien Keszthelyi
Michael Schumacher is pictured celebrating with brother Ralf, David's father, in 2004
The happy news comes nearly 12 years after Michael was in a catastrophic skiing accident in the French Alps in December 2013.
The seven-time world champion struck his head on a rock while skiing off-piste in Meribel, suffering a severe brain injury that left him in a medically induced coma for months. He has not been seen publicly since.
Michael, 56, continues to be cared for between the family's £50million lakeside mansion in Gland, Switzerland, and their £27m villa in Majorca. His wife of 30 years, Corinna, 56, has fiercely guarded his privacy, with only a handful of people permitted to see him.
Recent reports offered a glimmer of hope when French journalist Stephane L'Hermitte claimed the former Ferrari star had managed to sign a helmet for charity, describing it as 'a positive sign, almost a sign of life.'
But other experts have been less optimistic. Neurosurgeon Dr Jussi Posti, who has followed the case closely, told Finnish newspaper Iltalehti last year that 'everything points to him being unwell,' and dismissed rumours that Michael had attended his daughter Gina's wedding at the family's Majorcan estate the year before.
'If a hospital has been built in his house, with everything medicalised around him, it seems that he has been in hospital most of the time,' he said. 'Based on the information available, I don't think he leads a very active life. It suggests he has probably been in the same condition for the last decade.'
Gina, 28, an equestrian, married her long-term partner, Iain Bethke, at Villa Yasmin, the lavish property Corinna bought in 2017 from Real Madrid president Florentino Perez. Guests reportedly had their phones confiscated to prevent unauthorised photos, amid claims that Michael might be present.
David and Vivien are both racing drivers and first met through a mutual friend
The news of David's engagement comes not long after his own health scare. In 2022, he was seriously injured in a horrifying crash at the Hockenheimring during a DTM race, breaking a vertebra in his spine after colliding with Austrian driver Thomas Preining.
The accident sent both cars careering into the barriers and briefly sparked a fireball on track. At first David was cleared by medics, but an MRI scan later revealed a fractured lumbar vertebra. Miraculously, David recovered without surgery, returning to racing later that year.
The crash, however, reignited tensions within the family when his mother Cora - who split from Ralf in 2015 and 14 years of marriage - publicly clashed with Preining over who was to blame.
That family tension spilled into the open again last year when David issued an emotional plea on Instagram, begging his mother to 'leave us alone and let us live our lives.'
His statement came amid a bitter feud between his parents after Ralf publicly revealed he was in a same-sex relationship with his French business manager, Etienne Bousquet-Cassagne, 36 - prompting Cora to accuse her ex-husband of betrayal.
In his post, since deleted, David said he was tired of defending himself and his father from what he described as his mother's false claims. 'Normally I wouldn't want to talk about family matters in public because these topics have no business being talked about online,' he wrote. 'Unfortunately my mother seems to be looking at this differently. I just want to live my life in peace and reach my goals without being asked about all the things my mother accuses me and my dad of.'
David issued an emotional plea to his mother after father Ralf came out as gay
The young driver went on to make shocking allegations about his upbringing, claiming his mother had struggled with mental health issues and once threatened to destroy his dream of being a racing driver if he didn't live with her after the divorce.
'There was an incident where she wanted to take me away from my own father against my will,' he wrote. 'It got so out of control that we had to call the police as she was beating my father non-stop.'
The statement, though swiftly removed, drew widespread sympathy from fans and fellow racers, who praised his courage for speaking so openly about such a personal ordeal.
David's new Instagram post announcing his engagement has not been liked by his mother. They appear to not follow each other on social media.
