Felipe Massa: Ready for a strong summer now

Monaco is a track I like. It is one of the toughest challenges of the season: regardless of the weather conditions. But when it rains, like it did on Sunday, then all of those difficulties are amplified.

I remember coming out of the pits for the reconnaissance laps, and the grip conditions were really poor. I wasn't alone in feeling like that.

When we stood on the podium for the national anthem before the start, I had the chance to talk to Alonso, Vettel, Bottas and Button – and all of us were concerned about the lack of grip.

Therefore the decision to take the start under the safety car was a very sensible one. We did a lot of laps behind it and, although those in the leading positions wanted us to get going and start racing, for those of us in the middle of the pack there was very little visibility.

We therefore waited a few more laps for the conditions to improve and in the end I think everything was done in the right way.

Although the rain gradually declined, I can assure you it was not an easy race. For a driver at Monaco, it is always hard to read what is going on in the race, because there is no way to look beyond your direct competitors.

My Williams Martini Racing team decided to stretch my first stint on the wet tyres, and that meant I was on the track when the conditions were ready for intermediates.

It was a decision that was taken because of traffic – as it was essential to have sufficient margin to be able to make a pitstop and then get back on track in front of the Manor of Pascal Wehrlein. If we had not done that, then I would have lost a lot of time, as happened to other drivers.

That was why we pushed on until lap 20, when I switched to the intermediates. In hindsight, though, I should have tried to stay on track for another 10 laps more to go directly to the slicks – as Lewis Hamilton did.

It wouldn't have been easy, but it was not impossible. And if we had risked it, like Lewis did, then I would have been back in the top five. However, when we made the decision, it seemed to be a very risky thing to do.

My pace on the intermediate tyre was good, though, as it was with the slicks. Apart from Sergio Perez, who was too fast, the rest of the my rivals were within reach.

And, considering Monaco represents the hardest track on the calendar for Williams, coming away with a point for 10th place has to be seen as a positive sign. Especially because it meant I am the only driver who have finished in the top ten at every race so far this season.

We worked a lot on the set-up of the car over the weekend and, when we looked at the data comparison with 2015, after the Red Bull team, Williams was the outfit that improved the most.

I actually think we could have done even more though, because in qualifying my first and second sectors went very well, but over the final part of the lap the temperature of my rear tyres went up too much and I lost all the time I had gained.

Better times ahead

With Monaco done now, the calendar moves to a sequence of tracks that will suit our car much better.

Montreal has always been a venue that is very favourable for Williams, and I will be heading there with some decent optimism. We will have something new on the car, and we expect excellent results from our Mercedes power unit as well, which has always been an important weapon in Canada.

After Montreal comes Baku where, although there are no historic references, it has a very long straight and this should be good news for us. I should be able to tell you more later this week because I will have tried the track on the simulator for the first time.

Then comes Austria and Silverstone, tracks where usually we go very well. So this makes have high hopes of a good start to the summer of 2016.