Michael Schumacher set to be a grandfather as daughter Gina announces pregnancy

Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher is set to become a grandfather.

Daughter Gina and husband Iain Bethke have announced they are expecting their first child, a baby girl, next year.

Gina, a professional horse rider, shared the news with a series of adorable photos on Instagram.

The photos showed a pony next to a saddle, mini cowboy boots, a denim jacket and a bunch of pink balloons.

“My new rider, coming April 2025,” a sign says in front of the pony.

The post is captioned: “Impatiently awaiting the arrival of our little girl.”

It will be the first grandchild of Michael and Corinna Schumacher, who also have a son, Mick, together.

Gina shares memories of her father on his birthday each January.

“Happy birthday Papa! Throwback to one of many of our adventures,” she wrote this year, sharing a photo of herself with Mick and Michael before a skydive.

Last year’s post included the trademark hashtag #keepfighting.

Gina and Iain married in September in Mallorca.

There were initial reports that Schumacher attended the ceremony, but former F1 star and friend Johnny Herbert called those rumours “fake news”.

Schumacher has not been seen by people outside his extremely strict inner-circle since the fateful ski accident that almost took his life in 2013.

His exact condition is unknown, at the will of Corinna, who has kept it notoriously and meticulously private since the accident in the French Alps.

So the recent wedding sighting obviously created a huge stir.

The wedding was held in a $50 million Spanish villa, and security was also hired to, supposedly to protect Schumacher from “the possibility of attention from outside the wedding”.

The villa was reportedly converted into “a medical sanctuary” that could provide hospital-level care around the clock for the seven-time F1 world champion.

Doctors and nurses were also reportedly present, and details about guests having their phones confiscated at the door all added fuel to the fire.

But Herbert has hosed down the flames last month.

“It (Schumacher’s life) will always be a closed shop,” Herbert said.

“The most recent rumour was he attended his daughter’s wedding.

“Unfortunately, from what I understand, that was all A1 fake news and no truth in it.”

In May this year the Schumacher family settled a high-profile dispute with a German magazine.

Schumacher appeared on the front cover of German publication Die Aktuelle in April 2023 under the headline “Michael Schumacher, the first interview”.

The publishers left a small hint on the front page that it wasn’t real, with a strap saying the interview “sounded deceptively real”.

But the article otherwise appeared real, with artificially generated ‘quotes’ from Schumacher about his health and family.

The Schumacher family received compensation payment of 200,000 euros ($327,065 AUD) for the fake interview which used artificial intelligence.