Michael Schumacher 'slowly being awakened from coma'

Michael Schumacher is slowly being brought out of his month-long coma by medical experts, reports suggest.

The seven-time Formula 1 champion has entered a fifth week in a Grenoble hospital after he hit his head on a rock while skiing off-piste in the French Alps in December.

However, neurosurgeons are decreasing the drugs that are keeping him unconscious to allow his body to recover, according to French sports paper L'Equipe.

"After four weeks in a coma Schumacher has been placed in a phase of gradual awakening. It is a slow and uncertain process of return," the report states.

Schumacher is said to be "responding positively" to the process, but the extent of the damage to his brain is yet to be confirmed.