The recovery of F1 race car driver, Michael Schumacher is hopeful and positive despite its slow and steady progression.

Schumacher's condition has disabled him basic motor function and speech but hope has been restored since it was discovered that he can "speak" through his eyes.

"Sometimes a tear rolls down Michael's face. He cries when he hears the voice of his children or his wife," writes newspaper Corriere della Serra.

"Michael has his eyes open but he is often looking into a void. In recent times he has been able to recognise the familiar faces of his family but he cannot communicate with them.

"He does not speak and he is not able to perform movements independently. He reacts to external stimuli but for now can only answer a familiar voice by opening his eyes."

It has been 13 months since the skiing accident which left the Formula One champion in a coma for six months. The accident left Schumacher with severe head injuries as he struck a rock on his way down the mountain.

He's already had two brain operations at a hospital in Greenbole, but has been moved to a hospital in Lausanne last June.

It is suspected by his manager that the driver will be facing a long road of recovery.

Editor-in-chief Alberto Sabbatini for Autosprint magazine has stated:

"The good news is that Michael is not stuck in a bed. When not undergoing physical therapy to avoid muscle atrophy, he sits in a chair in front of the windows of his villa, overlooking on one side the snowy peaks of the Swiss Alps, and on the other the shores of Lake Geneva."

The last surgeon to have treated Schumacher said he would need years to fully recover, although it is still unbeknownst if the race car driver will be able to live a normal life afterwards.