01-17-2020, 05:53 AM
SPIELBERG, Austria -- Red Bulls hopes for a triumph on its home circuit were dampened Friday as Mercedes regained its dominance in Formula One, clearly setting the pace on the opening day of practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. With Daniel Ricciardos maiden victory in Canada two weeks ago, Red Bull ended a six-race winning streak by Mercedes but the Australian driver and his teammate Sebastian Vettel did not come close to matching their rivals speed on the Red Bull Ring. Lewis Hamilton beat teammate Nico Rosberg to the fastest time in the second practice. Hamilton completed his best lap on the 4.3-kilometre (2.7-mile) track in 1 minute, 9.542 seconds, topping Rosberg by 0.377. Ferraris Fernando Alonso was almost a second off the lead in third. Vettel came sixth, more than 1.4 seconds behind Hamilton, while Ricciardo posted the eighth fastest time. Mercedes also came 1-2 in the opening practice, with Rosberg beating Hamilton by 0.140. "Its so close between the two of us," Rosberg said about the fight with Hamilton for pole position. "Im hoping we will still have the edge on everybody else. That seems to be the case today." However, Hamilton said he wouldnt mind if Rosberg started in front of him on Sunday. "Hunting definitely brings out the better side," the 2008 F1 champion said. "When you are in front, you feel vulnerable and any mistake you make you are going to be caught." In the morning session, Ricciardo and Vettel came only 13th and 15th respectively. "We clearly did better in the afternoon," Vettel said. "We are not there where we want to be when it comes to speed ... but it will be warmer on Saturday and Sunday and I think that will bring us closer." In the first session, Vettel brought his car back to the garage undamaged following a spectacular incident in the final turn. He came off the track and spun twice on the grass before the car came to a standstill on the track again. "That wasnt planned of course," the four-time champion said. "I went too wide and the wet grass was slippery." Ricciardo also spun on the same spot shortly afterward, prompting team boss Christian Horner to joke "they were just warming up the crowd." "We are trying to find out the limit, and both just came on the grass," said Horner, adding the track was still lacking grip during the first session. "There was also a little bit of rain in the air. Thankfully everything is fine." Rosberg quit his first practice after 19 laps with a minor problem to his hybrid engine, enabling his technicians to fix the problem in time for the afternoons session. The German, however, couldnt keep up with Hamilton this time and didnt hide his anger as he was unaware over engine tests his team was applying on his car toward the end of the second session. "I was suddenly losing power and asked over the radio what was happening," Rosberg said. "Only then they told me they had changed my engine settings." Rosberg leads Hamilton in the drivers standings by 140-118 points going into Sundays race, the first GP in Austria since 2003. Most of the 22 drivers knew the track only from computer simulation. Alonso is one of just four drivers who raced on the track before, alongside McLarens Jenson Button, Ferraris Kimi Raikkonen and Williams Felipe Massa. The track is one of the shortest on the F1 calendar and features fast straights and only nine turns. Weather conditions could become an issue in the race as strong winds in the second practice Friday caused several drivers problems, especially on the third and eighth turns. The second session was considerably faster than the first as temperatures went up and teams were able to test their so-called supersoft tires, which helped cut lap times by approximately 0.6 seconds. The third practice is scheduled for Saturday, followed by the qualifying. Jim Harbaugh Jersey . Its Wu-Tang and Outkast in the final. 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With their coach gone, they finally played offence the way he would have wanted. Amare Stoudemire made all seven shots in the first half, Anthony passed and shot well, and the Knicks shook off the surprising departure of their coach to rout the Portland Trail Blazers 121-79 on Wednesday night, snapping a six-game losing streak.ST. LOUIS -- David Backes and his St. Louis Blues teammates were just trying to keep pace with the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night. Backes had a goal and assist in the first period to lead the Blues to a 4-2 win over the Nashville Predators in the season opener for both teams. St. Louis scored three times in the first 9:45 to jump in front 3-0 and chase Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne. The early scoring came on the heels of the Cardinals 9-1 win over Pittsburgh in the opening game of the NL Division Series. The start of the hockey game was moved back 30 minutes to allow the fans time to make the five-block trek from Busch Stadium, "The Cards scored nine today, we were trying to keep up," Backes said. The baseball game was shown on the scoreboard before the Blues game, charging up the already crazed crowd. Watching the Cardinals roll to an easy win set the tone for hockey team, which came out on a roll. "Its exciting, everything thats going on in this city," defenceman Alex Pietrangelo said. "It was a great day for St. Louis sports. The fans were really into it. "Im just glad we were able to put on a good show." Pietrangelo had two first-period assists to pace the early scoring. Jaroslav Halak made 28 saves for the Blues and improved to 9-3-3 against the Predators. Backes, Vladimir Sobotka, T.J. Oshie and Alex Steen scored for St. Louis, which was 2 of 4 on the power play. St. Louis has won four of its past five home openers. Nashville, which missed the playoffs last season, is 7-7-1 in season openers. The Blues came out aggressively, scoring three times on their first six shots. "The first 10 minutes were ideal," Backes said. "This was a result we can love. Its just a first step, but we had a lot of guys contribute on the score sheet and off the score sheet. "It all adds up to a pretty good team victory." St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock was also pleased. &"I thought that the players that have been here a while really put their best foot forward," he said.dddddddddddd"This gives us a chance to build on some things." Backes scored from close range at 2:05, just three seconds after Matt Cullen was sent off for tripping. Backes pounced on a shot from the blue line by Pietrangelo. The goal came 51 minutes after the final out of the baseball game. Sobotka tallied on a break along the left wing to make it 2-0. He went by Kevin Klein and sent a backhand behind Rinne. Oshie converted on a pass from Steen to push the lead to 3-0. Rinne was pulled after that tally. "Obviously, Im not happy with the result, not happy with the effort," Rinne said. Nashville climbed within 3-2 on goals by Mike Fisher and David Legwand, who scored off a pass from Patric Hornqvist. Steen scored a power-play goal at 11:16 of the second period to stretch the lead to 4-2. Halak then made nine third-period saves to preserve the lead. Nashville defenceman Seth Jones, the No. 4 overall pick in the draft, played 18:35 and had three shots on goal in his debut. "I had a couple good shifts to start the game and that carried me throughout out the game," Jones said. Jones, who was celebrating his 19th birthday, is the son of former NBA journeyman Popeye Jones. Popeye Jones, an assistant coach with the Indiana Pacers, was in attendance. "It was a thrill, Im just excited to be here for this," Popeye Jones said. NOTES: St. Louis has made the playoffs in 37 of its 46 seasons. ... Nashville coach Barry Trotz is the longest-tenured head coach with the same team with 1,115 games. ... St. Louis LW Brenden Morrow fixed his work-visa problems earlier in the day and was able to play. ... Hitchcock improved to 10-3-4 in season openers.... Halak, who played in just 16 games last season due to groin injuries, last won on March 23, 2012, a 3-0 win over Edmonton. ' ' '