Last year Ferrari qualified 1.4s slower than Mercedes around Melbourne. This time Ferrari qualified within 0.8s of the Mercedes pole time. Furthermore, last year Albert Park was the furthest off the pace Ferrari qualified all year (when expressed as a percentage). Although race two of 2015 was in Malaysia (placed much later in the 2016 calendar), at race three in Bahrain, the Ferrari qualifying deficit to Mercedes was down to 0.905s.Essentially, the Ferrari was around 0.5s per lap more competitive in Bahrain qualifying than it had been in Australia. If (an important if) the switch of tracks finds the same benefit for Ferrari this time around, it would suggest a Mercedes qualifying advantage in Bahrain of no more than 0.3s. Different season, different cars, but the patterns and traits of performance between the two cars does seem quite similar this year to last. The Mercedes advantage over Ferrari does appear to be bigger on Saturday than Sunday and it does partly seem related to how potent its qualifying engine mode is and partly to the Ferraris struggles to generate front tyre temperature early in a single lap. A Ferrari that can get to within 0.3s of a Mercedes in qualifying might very well be able to match its pace on race day.Until the red flag stoppage at Melbourne, Sebastian Vettel was of course leading for Ferrari and might have been expected to have won but for Alonsos race-stopping crash. But Vettels place had everything to do with the track positioning bought by his superb start and the mediocre ones of the Mercs.The comparison was further clouded by the different tyre choices made by each team during the race. Take these things out of the picture and it did appear that the Mercedes retained a performance advantage on race day - but by a smaller amount than in qualifying. Just like last year. Sebastian Vettel (left) led the Australian Grand Prix until the red flag There is potentially another similarity too. Last year, Ferrari ran their power units quite conservatively in Melbourne. But from Malaysia onwards through Bahrain and China, they felt confident enough to turn them up - and in those races they were at least on a par with Mercedes for race day horsepower, possibly even slightly ahead (this was before the Spain clarification on fuel flow interpretation).In Melbourne this year, Ferrari again was carefully managing their power units during the race. Kimi Raikkonen in particular could be observed varying the amount of electrical deployment, according to how defensive he needed to be.Something was giving Ferrari concern about being able to run with full deployment for extended periods. Its possible this was connected to Raikkonens turbo issues that subsequently forced him to retire, but Mercedes engineers looking at the numbers suspect that Ferrari were running their engines less aggressively than in Barcelona testing. Kimi Raikkonen had to retire his Ferrari on lap 23 of the Australian GP, after suffering a fire in his airbox If this was related to a specific reliability worry Ferrari had over a component and it can be resolved by the next race, then a return to full power in Bahrain could well be enough to allow Ferrari to fight Mercedes on pure performance - on race day at least.But longer term, a major focus of Ferraris attention will be on matching the power Mercedes have available for short bursts during qualifying. These extra engine modes are extremely potent and Mercedes development work during the winter - centred around extending the duration of combustion, thereby moving the detonation threshold yet further back, allowing more power for longer - has allowed them to become even more so.More than ever in the hybrid era, such developments have to be made jointly with the engine department, the fuel supplier and spark plug manufacturer. Although Ferrari appear to have a car capable of racing the Mercs, a breakthrough in qualifying performance is going to be needed before the Scuderia can control their races from the front, rather than relying on better starts or strategy to get them there. Nico Rosberg (left) won in Melbourne despite a poor start Yet even if they fail to make that step change this year, if they can regularly challenge the silver arrows, the respective dynamics of the driver line-ups of each team might yet offer Ferrari a realistic hope of stealing the title. Vettel is much more clearly a team No 1 than either of the Mercedes drivers. If - as happened in both 2014 and 15 - Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg takes points from each other while Vettel consistently finishes ahead of Raikkonen, it could be the crucial differentiator.Last year the Ferrari wasnt quite fast enough to make that matter. This year, it just might be.Dont miss the F1 Report for all the reaction and analysis from the Australian GP. Natalie Pinkham is joined by David Brabham and former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley on Wednesday at 8:30pm on Sky Sports F1. Every race live in 2016 Sky Sports F1 brings you every race live in 2016. Fast and easy online upgrade - click here. Also See: Brundle: Australia serves up a treat Every 2016 race live Wholesale New Orleans Saints Jerseys Custom . -- If this was Aaron Gordons final home game at Arizona, and it almost certainly was, then he went out in style. Custom NFL Jerseys China . Andreas Johnson had a goal and two assists while Jacob de la Rose also scored for Sweden (2-0-0). Esa Lindell and Rasmus Ristolainen replied for Finland (1-1-0) Lindell opened the scoring for Finland just 41 seconds into the game, but the hosts quickly regained their composure and tied the score less than four minutes later on Wennbergs first of the game. http://www.customjerseysnfl.com/ . Dallas hasnt ruled out the star quarterback for Sunday nights game against Philadelphia, but all signs point to Romos back injury pushing Kyle Orton into the starting role after two years of limited play as the backup. Surely Ortons name isnt the first that comes to mind for fans wanting a change after years of damaging interceptions, fumbles or, most infamously, the field goal flub when Romo dropped the snap on a kick that could have won his first playoff game in 2006. Custom Jerseys China . Murray beat Sam Querrey 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-3 to clinch Britains opening-round victory against the United States on Sunday at Petco Park. "Im proud of the way Im playing just now, because I had to do a lot of work to get back to where I want to be," Murray said after celebrating with his teammates on the red clay court in a temporary stadium in left field of the downtown home of baseballs San Diego Padres. Cheap Custom NFL Jerseys . Reigning world champion Eve Muirhead of Scotland opened with a 12-2 rout of Winnipegs Jennifer Jones in a battle of teams bound for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Cliff Pennington isnt known for his big hits. In a game that had plenty of key ones for both teams, it was the utility infielder who came up with the biggest.Pennington hit a go-ahead triple in the eighth inning, Albert Pujols slugged his 22nd home run and the Los Angeles Angels came back twice to beat the Seattle Mariners 7-6 on Tuesday night and end an 11-game losing streak.With two outs in the eighth, Jefry Marte turned on a 97 mph fastball from Arquimedes Caminero (2-3) and drove it into the stands to tie the game at 6-6. Jett Bandy kept the inning alive with a single, and Pennington pulled a line drive into the corner for just his second triple since 2014 to score Bandy easily.It felt really good, Pennington said. It hadnt been a great night up until that point. It was nice to get the big hitPennington had been hitless in his three prior at-bats and made a costly error that resulted in a run in the seventh inning. But his clutch hit and a double play in the ninth helped erase the misplay from his memory.Were tied up, so to get the hit and score a run was (big), Pennington said. But the double play was huge.Fernando Salas pitched a scoreless ninth for his third save, and Brett Oberholtzer (3-2) earned the win with a scoreless eighth.It was a slow-paced game but we felt like we were in control for most of it, Mariners manager Scott Servais said. Caminero has been awesome since hes been here and somehow he gets through Mike Trout and Albert Pujols. I dont think he let up or anything but give Marte credit, he turned around a 97-98 mph fastball and then it got away from us. Tough loss, weve been playing very good baseball.The Angels 11-game streak tied a franchise worst and was the longest such streak in 17 years.Its good to see these guys kind of exhale a little bit, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. Its obviously nice to get a win, but we need to continue to get better and keep moving forward.The Mariners went ahead in the seventh when reliever J.C. Ramirez threw two wild pitches and overthrew first base on a routine groundout.An error by Pennington put Robinson Cano on base and Ramirez then walked Nelson Cruz. With Kyle Seager batting, Ramirez threw his wild pitches, allowing Cano to come home and tie the game and Cruz to reach third. Cruz scored when Ramirez threw Mike Zuninos grounder past Marte at first base.J.C. has that power stuff that yoou want to match up against guys, Scioscia said.dddddddddddd We got a little sloppy and started off with an error but you still have confidence that hes going to get out of the inning. And he did that, but unfortunately he gave up a lead.Down 4-1 in the sixth, Ariel Miranda, who started in place of the injured James Paxton, walked Kole Calhoun and Trout before being relieved by Nick Vincent. Vincent left a 1-2 fastball up for Pujols, who hit it well over the wall in left-center.Pujols, baseballs active home run leader with 582, is now one shy of tying former teammate Mark McGwire for 10th on the career list.Vincent, who played college baseball at nearby Long Beach State, gave up a home run to Bandy two batters later that put the Angels up 5-4.Our bullpen has been outstanding, Servais said. But they just didnt quite it done tonight.The Mariners scored three runs in the second inning to go up 4-1. After Cano scored on a single by Cruz with two outs in the fifth, Jhoulys Chacin was removed for Jose Valdez after being charged with four earned runs in 5 2/3 innings.TRAINERS ROOMMariners: LHP Paxton was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a bruised elbow, retroactive Aug. 8, the date he was hit with a line drive. Servais said Paxton will throw a bullpen in Anaheim on Thursday, followed by a few simulated innings before making a return next week.Angels: RHP Huston Street has been throwing and his knee is being evaluated and tested to see if hes making progress. Street was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Aug. 1 with right knee inflammation. ... RHP Cam Bedrosian is progressing but has not yet been cleared to throw. Bedrosian was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Aug. 9 with right middle finger tendinitis.UP NEXTMariners: RHP Cody Martin was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma and will make his third major league start on Wednesday. Martin is 1-2 with a 2.70 ERA in five relief appearances with the Mariners this season and 9-7 with a 3.93 ERA in 23 games (18 starts) in Triple-A this season.Angels: LHP Tyler Skaggs will make his fifth start since returning from Tommy John surgery. Skaggs lost his first decision of the season Friday in Cleveland. Hes 1-1 with a 4.37 ERA this season and 0-1 with a 5.21 ERA in three starts against the Mariners. ' ' '