Coupled with other statements by Schumacher’s family and his manager, the medical bulletin suggested that those most directly involved expect the vigil at Grenoble, after 11 days, to continue for some time – and that they still know too little about the extent of Schumacher’s injuries to give any authorative statement on his prospects for recovery.

“The privacy of the patient demands that we are not going into details of his treatment, and this is why we do not envisage any press conferences or statements in the near future,” the medical team said.

At Albertville, the investigators said their inquiries had shown that Schumacher was “inanimate” when reached by ski marshals after his accident. They summoned an emergency helicopter that carried Schumacher from the Meribel slopes, via a smaller hospital nearby, to the regional hospital at Grenoble, where he arrived about 90 minutes after the accident.

A medical team at Grenoble operated immediately to relieve a blood clot on the right side of his brain, and again 48 hours later, this time to remove another large clot on the left side of his brain. The doctors have said that brain scans showed numerous other blood clots in areas that are inaccessible to surgery. Doctors have kept Schumacher’s body temperature artificially low, with both treatments aimed at lowering the pressure in his brain.

In a series of bulletins and statements, they have refused to say how long the coma will be maintained, or to offer any estimate of the likely long-term outcome. Brain specialists who are not involved in Schumacher’s care have said that the possibilities range from a full recovery, relatively rare but far from unknown in such cases, to various forms of physical and mental impairment. At worst, they said, Schumacher could die without ever recovering consciousness.

A statement issued on Tuesday by Schumacher’s wife, Corinna, who has been at his bedside throughout his treatment, accompanied by the couple’s two teenage children, appealed to reporters and camera crews gathered outside the hospital to leave.

“Please support us in our common fight with Michael,” she said, according to the statement. “It is important to me that you leave the doctors and the hospital so they can work in peace. I ask you to trust their statements and leave the clinic. Please leave our family in peace.”