And the German, heartened by the reception even though he is no longer in the familiar red Ferrari shirt, hopes to bring cheers to the locals in the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang.
Schumacher is making a comeback at the age of 41 to drive for Mercedes, a company with whom he had close ties with earlier in his career.
The German carmaker purchased the 2009 title-winning Brawn GP team, retaining team principal Ross Brawn, who previously helped lead Schumacher to title glory with Benetton and Ferrari.
It will be hard for Schumacher to add to his tally of 91 wins in Sepang on Sunday, given the Mercedes cars are lagging behind Ferrari and Red Bull in terms of race pace.
�We are a step behind the others at the moment. If we are following the other cars closely, overtaking is almost impossible unless someone makes a mistake,� said Schumacher in facing the media scrum for the first time in Malaysia yesterday.
�A podium finish here is the maximum we can look for at the moment. We can still fight for the championship but we can only look forward to this after we get our big aerodynamic package improvement in Barcelona (next month).�
Petronas Mercedes GP are still searching for their first podium finish and it will be a cherished moment for the fans and the team if the seven-time world champion delivers it.
�I have always loved racing here when I was with Ferrari.
�It�s still the same feeling I get or I will not have come back in the first place,� said Schumacher, who has chalked up nine points from two races.
�I saw the chance to get the podium in Australia but was bumped out.
�I think it�s a special race for everyone here due to the Malaysian connection and I hope to finish with better results.�
For the record, Schumacher is the most successful driver when it comes to the Malaysian GP. He took the chequred flag on three occasions � in 2000, 2001 and 2004.
Yesterday, Schumacher and Rosberg also took the F1 car out for a spin on the streets around the KLCC.
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