Doctors begin tests on F1 legend Michael Schumacher's brain to locate area where he suffered massive damage in Christmas ski accident

New tests to discover which parts of brain functioning and which dormant

Schumacher fell while skiing off-piste in French Alpine resort of Méribel

The impact was so strong that it cracked the former racing driver's helmet



Medical team says his helmet protected him from 'very violent shock'

But he is still 'fighting for his life' after being placed in an artificial coma

Doctors began tests on stricken F1 legend Michael Schumacher's brain on Monday in a bid to precisely locate the area where he suffered massive damage in a pre-Christmas ski accident.

Germany's Bild newspaper reported on Day 15 of Schumacher's artificially induced coma that the new tests are intended to discover which parts of his brain are functioning and which are dormant.

He remains stable but critically ill.

Bild says that it has gleaned information from among the medical team treating him in Grenoble, France, that there are still great fears of 'unexpected complications,' such as a brain haemorrhage and infection.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEOS

Doctors began tests on stricken F1 legend Michael Schumacher's brain on Monday in a bid to precisely locate the area where he suffered massive damage in a pre-Christmas ski accident

Risky: Eyewitnesses say the retired racing driver hit his head on one of the many rocks in the off-piste area (right) while skiing with his 14-year-old son Mick (believed to be pictured, above, with his father)



Vigil: Schumacher's wife Corrina (pictured with her husband at the Asterix At The Olympic Games Paris premiere in Paris in 2008) is by his beside in hospital as he fights for life A Zurich newspaper reported on Sunday that a small part of his skull has been removed in a bid to relieve pressure on his brain.

While experts concur that such procedures are effective in relieving the injured area they can cause even more damage.

Swiss neurosurgeon Frédéric Rossi told the Zurich Tagesanzeiger that the list of dangers from such an op 'is long, ranging from swelling to bleeding to the accidental opening of the brain's outer membrane.' Schumacher, 44, was out skiing with friends and his 14-year-old son Mick on December 29 when he fell on to rocks at the French resort of Meribel.

He had to be helicoptered to hospital and has been fighting for his life ever since.

His wife Corinna and his two children remain at his bedside and high-profile figures from the world of F1, industry and showbiz continue to make brief visits to see him.

Treatment: Surgeons at Grenoble Hospital (pictured) are assessing Schumacher's recovery on an hourly basis Protection: Jean-Francois Payen - an anaesthetist at the hospital - revealed that the F1 legend might not have survived the 'high-speed' fall if he had not been wearing a helmet

'Working hour by hour': Professor Jean-Francois Payen (pictured, left, with Professors Gerard Saillant and Emmanuel Gay) updates the media on Schumacher's condition at a press conference at the Grenoble Hospital Overseeing his care: French surgeon Gerard Saillant, who operated on Schumacher when he broke his leg in an F1 crash in 1999, said he went to the hospital as 'friend' not a doctor Eyewitnesses say Schumacher hit his head on one of the many rocks in the off-piste area - causing him to briefly lose consciousness. The fall was so hard that Schumacher's helmet cracked. Brain surgeons battled throughout the night to save the retired racing driver's life, said his anaesthetist Jean-Francois Payen, who added: 'We are working hour by hour'. He also revealed that Schumacher might not have survived the fall - if he had not been wearing a helmet. Speaking at a press conference at the Grenoble Hospital, in eastern France, Mr Payen said: 'We judge him to be in a very serious situation. We cannot predict the future for Michael Schumacher. Urgent: Surgeon Stephan Chabardes operated on the F1 legend to relieve bleeding and bruising in the brain Media frenzy: Schumacher's medical team answers questions from dozens of journalists at Grenoble Hospital 'We cannot predict the future for Michael Schumacher': Medics told the throng of journalists that it was too early to make a prognosis

'It's too early to say what is going to happen and to have a prognosis. Taking into consideration the very violent shock, his helmet did protect him to a certain extent, of course.



'Somebody who would have this kind of accident without a helmet, certainly, he would not have got to here.'

Professor Stephan Chabardes, the neurosurgeon who operated on the F1 star, told the news conference: 'Mr Schumacher was taken by helicopter very quickly to Grenoble Hospital.



'On his arrival we examined him clinically and we realised he was in a serious condition, in a coma, with in fact cranial pressure.