(SportsNetwork.com) - Seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher underwent a second surgery to alleviate pressure on his brain, though the auto racing legend still remains in critical condition as he battles a traumatic head injury from a skiing accident over the weekend.
Doctors at the French hospital handling Schumacher reported Tuesday that the 44-year-old's condition has improved slightly following the latest procedure, which involved the removal of a large mass of blood from the left side of his brain. The retired racer continues to be in a medically induced coma, however, with his long-term prognosis still uncertain.
"The situation is more under control than yesterday but we cannot say he is out of danger," Jean-Francois Payen, head anaesthetician at Grenoble's CHU hospital said in a statement reported on the official Formula One website. "We have won some time but we must continue an hour-by-hour surveillance. It is premature to speculate on his condition."
Schumacher hit his head after a fall while on a family ski trip Sunday in the French Alps. He was wearing a helmet, which the doctors said likely saved his life.
The native German, who retired from Formula One racing at the conclusion of the 2012 season, was taken by helicopter to a hospital in Moutiers and then moved to Grenoble.
A statement initially issued by the University Hospital in Grenoble said Schumacher suffered "a severe head injury with coma on arrival, which required neurosurgical intervention immediately."
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