MELBOURNE, Australia - Mercedes confirmed its status as favourite to win the Formula One season-opening Australian Grand Prix by setting the fastest two times in Fridays practice sessions, with Lewis Hamilton edging his teammate Nico Rosberg. Wyatt Teller Jersey . Hamilton failed to complete a lap in the opening practice session due to a malfunctioning oil pressure sensor that shut down his engine, but recovered to set a time of 1 minute 29.625 seconds in the second session around the Albert Park circuit, 0.157 seconds ahead of Rosberg. "That was quite satisfying. On one lap the pace was good, and on the long run, as well," Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said. He added, however, that Hamiltons early problem meant there is still cause for concern. "You need to be very careful because its enough to have a little problem and the race or qualifying could be finished." Fernando Alonso of Ferrari was fastest in the first session but dropped to third in the second, half a second off Hamiltons time. Kimi Raikkonen was only seventh fastest in his return to the Italian team after suffering some problems, including failing to select first gear when trying a practice start. "Were still not on top of all the things we need to resolve," Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said. "The negative sides have to be addressed very quickly because the competition is strong and the time available is not very much." The gaps at the top of the timesheets were reasonably close, which points toward a competitive qualifying session on Saturday and race on Sunday, rather than the Mercedes dominance that many had predicted. Red Bulls Sebastian Vettel was tipped to struggle in his campaign for a fifth straight drivers championship due to his teams preseason struggles with Renaults new V6 turbo engine, but he put in an encouraging performance to finish fourth fastest in practice. Vettel and new teammate Daniel Ricciardo — who was sixth fastest — completed a total of 115 laps, which will provide valuable data on the car and engines performance. "Its been a very strong first day for us," Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said. "Weve had a very difficult preseason with numerous issues so it was refreshing to get some laps in and get a first proper feel for the car. "We can see there is quite a gap to the Mercedes and the Ferrari, but we are starting to feel what that gap is and by the end of the weekend we will have a clearer idea." By contrast, fellow Renault-powered teams Lotus and Caterham did very little running due to a succession of technical problems, coupled with some spins into the gravel traps by Lotus drivers Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado. There has been concern that these two teams, and perhaps others, will sit out Saturdays final practice session to avoid encountering a problem that takes a long time to fix — as many do with these new complex engines — and therefore having to miss both qualifying and the race. Renault deputy managing director Rob White admitted the company was way behind schedule in integrating the complex new powertrains to its four customer teams. "Its completely unacceptable to come to the first race as relatively unprepared as we are," White said. McLaren driver Jenson Button was fifth fastest in Fridays practice, while his rookie teammate Kevin Magnussen was ninth. Williams driver Valtteri Bottas was eighth, four places above his experienced new teammate Felipe Massa in 12th. Force Indias Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top ten. Lorenzo Alexander Jersey . -- Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew practiced in a limited capacity Friday, a positive sign he might be able to play against the Tennessee Titans. Ray-Ray McCloud Jersey . -- Arkansas didnt need a spectacular dunk to beat No. http://www.cheapbillsjerseysonline.com/?tag=rafael-bush-jersey-online . - The Jacksonville Jaguars are leaning more toward playing injured quarterback Blake Bortles against Tennessee on Thursday night.NEW YORK -- Baseball players and management hope to reach a new drug agreement this week that would increase initial penalties for muscle-building steroids and allow a decrease of suspensions for some positive tests caused by unintentional use, people familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. For future suspensions, the deal also would eliminate the loophole allowing Alex Rodriguez to earn almost $3 million during his season-long ban, the people said. They spoke on condition of anonymity in recent days because talks are ongoing. The sides hope to reach an agreement by Sunday, when the Los Angeles Dodgers open the U.S. portion of the major league schedule at the San Diego Padres. While the lengths have not been finalized, a person involved with the talks said Wednesday the most likely penalties would be about 80 games for an initial testing violation and a season-long ban for a second. "It will be a significant deterrent because players will know theyre not going to just easily walk back into a lineup," Travis Tygart, chief executive officer of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, said in a telephone interview. "It probably is the best policy in professional sports." For use of a limited group of substances, the sides were discussing giving the arbitration panel that hears appeals grievances the authority to reduce suspensions by as much as 50 per cent if the player proves the positive test was caused by unintentional use, the person said. "What were all here for it to rid sports of the intentional cheats, those who are intending to defraud both the fans and their fellow teammates, the integrity of competition," Tygart said. "You want to have provisions in place that allow for whether theres an inadvertent or a truly non-intentional situation which may arise." Since the 2006 season, the Major League Baseballs drug agreement has called for a 50-game suspension for a first positive steroids test, a 100-game ban for a second and a lifetime penalty for a third. Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig called for tougher penalties last March, and then-union head Michael Weiner said players would consider them for 2014. Weiner died in November and was succeeded by former All-Star Tony Clark, who has led the negotiations. Major League Baseballs investigation of the Biogenesis of Amerrica anti-aging clinic led to 14 suspensions last summer, including a 65-game penalty for former NL MVP Ryan Braun of Milwaukee and a 211-game ban for Rodriguez, which was reduced to 162 games in January by an arbitrator. Kyle Williams Jersey. The section covering violations not related to positive tests, which was used by Selig in the Biogenesis case, will be clarified but still will allow discipline for "just cause." Many players have advocated stiffer penalties as a deterrent. Arizona pitcher Brad Ziegler spoke out after Jhonny Peralta, who served a 50-game suspension, agreed in November to a $53 million, four-year contract with St. Louis. "We thought 50 games would be a deterrent. Obviously its not. So we are working on it again," he tweeted then. "It pays to cheat... Thanks, owners, for encouraging PED use." Some players said suspensions should lead to larger monetary losses. San Diego Padres outfielder Will Venable maintained last summer "somehow having to forfeit or void your contract that youre under is something that needs to be the main focus of the penalties." But for the majority of players, that would go too far. "Id venture to guess that even though there are concerns on a number of levels, that we will never end up in a world where player contracts are voided as a result," Clark told the AP during a January interview. Addressing positives caused by inadvertent use was a factor in the talks. Philadelphia infielder Freddy Galvis was suspended for 50 games in June 2012 for a Clostebol Metabolite, which he later claimed was contained in a foot cream he used. Reliever Guillermo Mota, then with San Francisco, was suspended for 100 games in May 2012 after taking a cough syrup with Clenbuterol. The new deal also will state that a player receives none of his salary during a season-long suspension. The current deal said a player loses as many days pay as games he is suspended. Since players are paid over a 183-day season this year, arbitrator Fredric Horowitz ruled Rodriguez was entitled to 21-183rds of his $25 million salary, or $2,868,852. "Thats fantastic," Tygart said. "You hit them in the pocketbook, and thats really where the cheaters are most deterred from attempting to steal money from the other players." 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