Michael Schumacher’s former teammate Johnny Herbert has spoken out about the stricken F1 star’s condition after a ghoulish artificial intelligence-generated “interview with the legend” that sparked outrage around the world.
German magazine Die Aktuelle was slammed for its recent front cover which claimed to feature the 54-year-old’s “first exclusive interview” since his horror skiing accident almost a decade ago.
It promised not “half-sentences from friends” but “the incredible interview” with the F1 star including “redeeming answers to the most burning questions that the whole world has been asking for so long”.
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But only at the end of the piece did it reveal that the article was actually generated by an AI chatbot, The Sun reports.
The piece sparked a furious reaction from Schumacher’s family with a spokesperson confirming to news agency Reuters that they are taking legal action against the publication.
The editor of German magazine has since been sacked.
Now former F1 teammate turned high profile TV commentator Johnny Herbert has spoken for the first time since the AI chat, branding the German magazine’s actions “appalling”.
Schumacher, who won seven world championships during his dazzling career, regularly raced with the British racing driver and the pair were teammates for the now-defunct Benetton between 1994 and 1995.
Speaking to Ice 36, Johnny said: “That German magazine interview was appalling. This is the modern, mad world of AI and how dangerous it can be.
“That was a prime example of using it in completely the wrong way.”
He also spoke about the F1 star’s condition following his skiing accident in the French Alps in December 2013 and said he understood the world’s “fascination” with the racing legend.
Schumacher has not been seen in public since his accident, and his family has carefully guarded his privacy at his home in Switzerland.
Johnny added: “I can understand the fascination with Michael because it is a story that has not had an ending yet.
“There is an endless fascination about Michael. I don’t have any contact with the family. It is all kept very tight.”
The former F1 driver also shed light on his relationship with the “ruthless” German who went on to race for Ferrari and Mercedes.
He said: “We didn’t always see eye-to-eye. He was ruthless. But that is why he achieved what he achieved.
“He had a way that he wanted to go about his racing. He was fortunate that he got the right people around him with Flavio Briatore, Ross Brawn to Rory Byrne, and he took those people to Ferrari.
“I remember Ross saying Michael was the best driver he had ever worked with. Because of that they would do anything for him. And I mean anything.
“Because of that, Michael gets that motivation, they get the motivation back because he gives it back, and together they deliver. Then it becomes a cycle of success.”
Johnny says he still remembers Michael’s “standout performance in Ferrari” during a particularly soggy race day in Spain.
He said: “I still remember what for me was his standout performance in the Ferrari, in the wet in Barcelona in 1996. It was his first victory for Ferrari.
“It was a stunning drive in torrential rain and why he was thereafter called the ‘Regenmeister’, the Rainmaster. It was an unbelievable drive.
“Yes, there was a darker side to him too, but at the end of the day you can’t deny anything he did.”
— This story originally appeared on thesun.co.uk and has been republished with permission
