The idenity of the 2012 Monaco GP pole-sitter hard to call, says Massa

With rain hitting the track early in the afternoon session, most teams were unable to test the super soft Pirelli tyres, used in a race for the first time this year.

Ferrari driver Massa completed 19 laps in the second session on his way to the third quickest time and the Brazilian said he was pleased with his day's work, but admitted the conditions made it very hard to predict the pecking order.

"I think it was a good Friday. But it was very difficult to say, especially in Monaco on Friday it is difficult, even for us it is not clear what the situation will be in qualifying," said Massa.

"It was a good Friday, the car was okay. It was good to drive in terms of balance and even degradation of the tyres - not just for us, everybody was improving the laptime at the end of the run with the soft tyres.

"We did not try the super soft so that is another point, we don't know what will be the difference between soft and super soft, but everything felt okay. Even in the rain, the feeling was not too bad. We'll see how it will be in qualifying."

Massa did concede his Ferrari was working better than expected in terms of traction, one of the weakest areas for the Italian squad.

"I think the traction was maybe a bit better than expected. So, I am not sure if it was just related to the feeling because the tyres are not degrading a lot, the tyres are working okay.

"Especially on the soft tyres so we need to see with the super soft how it is going to be with the grip and everything, but the feeling was maybe a bit better than expected with the traction. If you have no problem with traction, and on the track you don't feel anything because of the top speed, it can be very positive."