Ferrari improve but fail to learn from mistakes

By Alan Baldwin

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Felipe Massa revelled in a more competitive Ferrari Saturday while fretting about the Formula One champions' failure to learn from their mistakes.

The Brazilian qualified fourth for the Spanish Grand Prix in an aerodynamically revamped car after his team made a basic error that cost 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen any chance of joining him at the front.

"A day of varying fortunes," was team boss Stefano Domenicali's verdict.

"Felipe's showing in qualifying confirms that all the work of the past few weeks aimed at improving the car's performance is going in the right direction.

"However that can only add to the disappointment of how things went in terms of managing his team mate's session. We had the potential to get both cars into the top three rows and we only got it half right."

Raikkonen's failure was a repeat of the mistake Ferrari made with Massa in last month's Malaysian Grand Prix, with the driver putting in five laps and then staying in the garage in the mistaken belief that his time was good enough to see him through.

The Finn, whose last victory was in Barcelona last year, will start 16th at a circuit where overtaking has been difficult in the past.

He said it had been a "stupid mistake."