Schuey rues setbacks on 'busy day'

His biggest problem occurred when something got lodged in his left eye, but he also suffered with heavy traffic and the after-effects of Kimi Raikkonen's smoke trail from his expiring Mercedes engine.

"It was a busy day," admitted Schumacher. "I had to abort one run when I came across a big puff of smoke in the tunnel and thought there was oil on the track. Then on one run I had a problem with Juan Pablo, which is just down to the nature of this track. After my second run I also picked up something in my eye."

Despite that, and a perceived deficit in relation to Ferrari's Michelin-shod rivals, Schumacher believes he is still in with a shot of victory in Monte Carlo.

"To be honest, we have been a little behind all weekend and there are more Michelin runners than usual near the top," he added. "We have always said that the situation could change very quickly, and today is proof of that. However, third place is not far behind and in race trim we should be more competitive."