Felipe Massa is worried the banning of electronic driver aids such as traction control for the 2008 Formula 1 season will lead to carnage on the race track, particularly in wet conditions.

The 26-year-old aired his concerns after driving his Ferrari F2007 without the device for the first time during the first off-season test in Barcelona this week, when he ended up more than half a second adrift of returning former team-mate Michael Schumacher.

It may have been the first time the German had got behind the wheel of an F1 car in anger since his retirement from the sport at the end of last season, but whilst he has been used to driving without traction control before, Massa has not.

“The fact is I didn't have any experience without traction control and I was rubbish,” international news agency Reuters quotes the Brazilian as having told Italian daily sports newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.

“First the accelerator is like a button – you have to be as soft as possible – but from a safety point-of-view, these limitations on the use of electronics seem a step backwards. In wet races we will have a lot more accidents.”