Seven time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher is in a coma after striking his head in a ski accident in the French Alps on Sunday.

The 44 year old was suffering a serious brain trauma with coma on his arrival, requiring an immediate neurosurgical operation.

"He remains in a critical condition."

Schumacher had been skiing off-piste in the upmarket Meribel resort, where he reportedly has a property, when he fell and hit his head on a rock, mountain police who gave him first aid said.

A renowned Paris neurosurgeon, doctor Gerard Saillant, was brought to the Grenoble hospital in a police car to take charge of the famous patient.