The German racing great remained in an induced coma and a critical condition, with his wife Corinna, 16-year-old daughter Gina-Maria and 14-year-old son Mick at his bedside in the French Alpine city of Grenoble.
The seven-time world champion's fight for survival after he fell and slammed his head on a rock Sunday has shocked legions of fans used to seeing him cheat death on the racing tracks.
"At the moment, he is stable," the 44-year-old's manager Sabine Kehm told reporters massed outside the hospital in Grenoble yesterday.
On Tuesday, they said a slight improvement in his condition had allowed them to perform a second nearly two-hour long procedure to remove bleeding in the brain, but warned he was "not out of danger" yet.
"We cannot speculate on the future," said Jean-Francois Payen, head of the intensive care unit at the hospital. "We cannot say he is out of danger but we have gained some time.