Ferrari wary of strategy nightmare

Unlike in previous seasons, drivers are no longer able to pit for fuel and new rubber as soon as the safety car is called out because the pit lane is closed for the first lap.

That means there is the real chance of leaders losing a big advantage during safety car spells - especially if they need to pit at the wrong moment and then get caught in traffic when they return to the circuit.

Ferrari's head of trackside operations Luca Baldisserri is well aware that the safety car rules will complicate matters on Sunday - and he is not sure how the team can avoid any likely difficulties.

"The most flexible strategy in terms of avoiding a negative outcome of a safety car period is to reduce the number of pitstops," said the Italian. "Like this you carry less risk.

"However, it means you must run a car with a heavy fuel load. That in turn means you will pay the price in qualifying and you can get stuck in traffic in the early stages of the race.

"And if nothing unusual happens in the race then you run the risk of finding that your strategy is too safe and you cannot win the race."

Baldisserri believes the only factor that works in Ferrari's favour is that their F2007 is fast - something that should benefit them when it comes to picking the right strategy for qualifying and the race.

"We definitely want to win this race, because we have not succeeded in winning in Monte Carlo since 2001," he explained. "I think this will involve a lot of hard work to decide what to do and it will be really important to run a good practice programme on Thursday.

"So yes, it is an absolute lottery, but the odds can be a bit in your favour if you have a quick car. You can then use the performance margin to help you run a conservative strategy, but as we have seen in the races so far this season, no one team really has that margin and it will be a real fight in qualifying between us and our rivals.

"Monaco is a track that requires a lot of effort from the drivers, as the walls are close, you have to be precise and also very quick."

Baldisserri's determination to get through a smooth day of practice on Thursday has increased because the team have yet to establish the pros and cons of the soft and super-soft tyres that will be used this weekend.

"We have been testing the super-soft and the soft tyres that Bridgestone bring to this race. But Paul Ricard, where we tested them last week, was not the best venue for this tyre comparison.

"We could not establish enough of a difference because the super-soft struggled slightly towards the end of a lap. We will have to therefore adapt our Thursday programme to establish which tyre really is the quickest. This will be especially important looking towards qualifying but also for the race."