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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 treatEvery 2016 race liveFake Yeezy .Y. -- Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Wednesday that J. Yeezy Online .com) - The Montreal Canadiens will try to halt their longest losing streak of the season when they host the struggling New York Islanders in tonights clash at the Bell Centre. https://www.fakeyeezywholesaleonline.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. Wholesale Yeezy . - Levi Browns tenure at left tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers is over before it even began. Black Friday Yeezy . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two.COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The U.S. is back in Columbus this week, where it enjoys a distinct home-field advantage.MAPFRE Stadium, the 20,000-seat home of Major League Soccers Columbus Crew, hosts the Americans fifth straight home World Cup qualifier against Mexico.The game has become known as Dos a cero following four straight U.S. wins by 2-0 scores.Theres just history here, American defender Matt Besler said ahead of Fridays match. The fans have always been supportive of us, and I think its changing now that its not just people from this area. There are people from all over the country who are flying in to be a part of this game.The Americans are 8-0-3 at the venue, a few miles west of sprawling Ohio State and its 105,000-seat football stadium. The MLS stadiums size allows the U.S. Soccer Federation to ensure a pro-American crowd.The majority of U.S. fans fill up that stadium. Its incredible, said U.S. defender Omar Gonzalez, a Mexican-American who plays for Pachuca. You dont really get that anywhere else you go, so its definitely an advantage for us to play here in Columbus. Its not the biggest stadium, its intimate but its loud, people are close to the pitch so its going to be great.Players began arriving Monday for training. When the U.S. plays Mexico at larger venues such as the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, a large percentage of the crowd has been El Tri supporters.ddddddddddddHere in Columbus, we know that one way or another, the majority are going to be our people, said backup goakeeper William Yarbrough, a Mexican-American who plays for Leon. We know of the great fans that Mexico has in the United States. So its also important to look for those venues where we know that the support is going to be 100 percent for us, this is one of them.The match is the opener of the 10-game final round of qualifying in the North and Central American and Caribbean region. The top three nations qualify for the 2018 World Cup, and the No. 4 team advances to a playoff against the fifth-place Asian team for another berth.Mexico has gone 12-1-2 since former Chicago Fire and New York Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio took over in October 2015 -- the loss was a 7-0 quarterfinal defeat to Chile in Copa America in June.We know the crowd is going to be on our side, said 20-year-old midfielder Lynden Gooch, who plays for Sunderland in the English Premier League. Theyre going to be our 12th man, as they say, and its going to be rocking. Its going to a fierce rivalry. Theres a big three points at stake.---Follow Mitch Stacy at http://twitter.com/mitchstacy ' ' '