Michael Schumacher's condition is no longer regarded as 'critical' according to his manager Sabine Kehm.
The seven-time F1 world champion continues to be treated in the Grenoble University Hospital after suffering severe head injuries in a skiing accident in the 3 Valleys at the end of December. He is believed to remain in a medical induced coma which doctors put him under more than three weeks ago, in the hours immediately after his accident.
Sabine Kehm's statement that Mr Schumacher was in a "stable condition" was the first time that his condition was not described as "critical."
Mr Schumacher's family have also released a statement via the racing star's website: michael-schumacher.de
The message thanks fans for their on-going messages of support, including a decision by local football clubs to display a banner before their match at the weekend which read, "Get well soon! You can do it, Michael!"
"We are deeply touched by all the messages to get well soon for Michael which still are being sent. That gives us strength. Thank you all so much …We all know, he is a fighter and will not give up," the Schumacher family's message says.
The Independent newspaper has reported that Michael Schumacher is one of the world's leading benefactors having given more than €50m of his personal wealth to charities that include UNESCO, UNICEF and Childline, as well as helping aid programmes in Senegal, Sarajevo, Peru and following the 2004 Tsunami disaster in which his own bodyguard and his bodyguard's two sons were killed.