Michael Schumacher's brother, and former Formula One driver, Ralf, comes out as...

Former Formula One star Ralf Schumacher, the brother of seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, has come out as gay on social media.

The German driver took to Instagram on Sunday to post a picture of himself and his French business manager Etienne standing arm-in-arm on a boat, captioning the image: ‘The most beautiful thing in life is when you have the right partner by your side with whom you can share everything.’

The surprise announcement from the former driver turned entrepreneur and pundit was met with a torrent of congratulations and well-wishes from fans and members of the motorsport community.

Ralf’s close friend and German actress Carmen Geiss replied to his social media post, writing: ‘I LOVE YOU BOTH SO MUCH.

You have the best partner, Etienne, you can imagine. After two years you can finally show your love to the world. I have known Ralf for more than 25 years and he has always been a great joy to me.

‘Always liberal, a good-hearted person who I can call day and night and above all has always been honest with me in his position.

‘I am happy that I got to be a part of this love and even more happy for the two who searched and found each other, because I also love Etienne deeply.’

The 49-year-old was previously married to his former wife Cora Schumacher, a former Playboy model and ex-GQ cover star, for 14 years before the pair separated back in 2015.

The former couple, who tied the knot back in 2001 and welcomed their son David in the same year, are believed to be close still.

Reacting to his father’s post on social media, David said: ‘I am very happy that you have finally found someone with whom you really feel that you feel very comfortable and secure, no matter if you are a man or a woman.