Massa: rules make Monaco a lottery

The regulation that forces teams to use both types of tyres means drivers will have to run one stint with far from ideal rubber, while a badly timed safety car period could also play havoc thanks to the pitlane being closed for a set period.

Add to that mix the possibility of rain showers, and Massa is in no doubt that luck will play more of a factor in the outcome of the event than in previous years.

"I have seen the weather forecast for the weekend and unbelievably, they say there is a chance of rain," he wrote in his official blog.

"Believe it or not, if it does rain, it will be a completely new experience for me, as I have never driven this track in the wet. But when it rains, it rains on everyone

"Of course, Monaco is the sort of track where it is just not permitted to make a mistake and rain always increases the possibility of a mistake. It could make things even more of a lottery than usual, as will the new rules regarding having to use both types of tyre.

"If there is a safety car period, depending on what tyre you are on, it will either help you or go against you. But in a lottery, it is also important to have a bit of luck, so hopefully everything will work out for us this weekend."

Massa's best result at Monaco has been a fifth, but he is more confident of a good result this year after winning in Bahrain and Spain.

However, he admits that he does not yet have a full grasp of the performance of Bridgestone's super soft tyres that will be used for the first time this weekend.

"Last week, I had a couple of days testing not far from home in Paul Ricard. I think the test went quite well for us.

"We were concentrating on finding a good set-up for the car when it is running the high downforce configuration that we use at Monaco. Apart from that the main thing was getting an understanding of the two types of tyre we will be using.

"Honestly, the tyre situation was not so easy to deal with, because over the two days I was testing, I had just a couple of sets of what Bridgestone is calling the "super-soft" and I was unlucky to be caught out in traffic on my first lap on these tyres.

"This was a shame, as it meant I could not exploit them properly. But we know this tyre is quicker than the other one, so it is not a big problem. Apart from that, everything went well."