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Ferrari has learned from slow start - Fry

Pat Fry is confident the Ferrari will continue to improve © Sutton Images

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Ferrari technical director Pat Fry says his team has learned "a hell of a lot" from the mistakes it made with the F2012 ahead of the start of the season.

Ferrari struggled for pace during pre-season testing and made significant changes to its car at the second test before another major overhaul at the Spanish Grand Prix. Fry admits the team got some things wrong with the car, but he said those mistakes also provided useful lessons for the future.

"There were a few aerodynamic characteristics that we didn't want and if anything we spent too much time concentrating on the exhaust," he said. "We didn't get that sorted well enough and we stopped that [line of development] halfway through the second test. I think having done that work we've learned a hell of a lot from it so you can take some positives out of the situation we were in. For me it's been good looking back and seeing what we got wrong and why we got it wrong and then seeing how the organisation has responded."

Fry said the recent gains the team made at the Spanish Grand Prix had been relatively easy to come by because it was so clear where the problems were with the car.

"There are a few obvious things we got wrong and the fact that the updates worked was perhaps a little bit easier because we were starting from a bad position. Most of the things worked but there were still some that weren't doing exactly what we were expecting. We can't really test anything here because it's all about keeping the car the same for the drivers so that the drivers can get used to the track again. We'll try and answer the next set of questions when we get to Canada."

Despite the team's problems early in the season Fernando Alonso is level on points with Sebastian Vettel at the top of the championship. Fry said that luck had contributed to Alonso's position in the title chase, but that the driver and team had been working incredibly hard.

"It's fortunate that we should be in the position we are now after where we were in winter testing," he said. "I think that's a lot of hard work from everyone that's been digging us out of that. I think everyone, drivers included ... it's brought the best out of them. Fernando has done some fantastic races, but there is still an element of luck why we are here rather than being here by design. We've just got to keep on improving."

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