Pittsburgh Penguins HBK Line (WWE "Sexy Boy" Remix)
PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan shortened his bench late in the game to get star Sidney Crosby going, and he might have lengthened the Eastern Conference finals because of it.
Crosby ended an eight-game streak without a goal only 40 seconds into overtime, and the Penguins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 Monday night to even the conference finals at one win apiece.
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The Penguins rallied after giving up a two-goal lead.
Crosby has never gone nine consecutive playoff games without a goal -- and he still hasn"t, and the Penguins now go to Tampa for Game 3 on Wednesday with the best-of-seven series level. The goal was his first in overtime in 113 career playoff games -- and the fastest overtime goal in Penguins playoff history.
"We were pretty confident all game that (we) deserved to win the game and that if we kept doing what we were doing we would win the game -- and that"s what happened," Penguins rookie goalie Matt Murray said. "We played with desperation but never with panic, and that"s what I like about our team."
On the game-winning goal, defenseman Brian Dumoulin kept the puck in play along the boards and passed it low in the zone to Bryan Ryan, who heard Crosby calling for it. Rust fed him the puck, and Crosby"s shot sailed under the crossbar for his fourth of the playoffs.
"I didn"t think Rusty saw me, so I tried to let him know I was there," Crosby said. "He had a good chance to maybe shoot it too, but he made a perfect pass -- and to an area where I could get a quick shot away."
The Penguins, showing the desperation of a team in danger of going down 2-0 going into the other team"s building, outshot the Lightning 19-6 over the third period and overtime.
"I thought as the game wore on, we were better and better," Sullivan said.
Sullivan pressed to get the game-winner by playing Crosby and the slumping Evgeni Malkin (0 goals in 7 games) together or with different linemates than usual in an effort to get one or the other going.
"I moved a few people into Sid"s line or Geno"s line, to try to create a little bit of spark with those guys," he said.
Murray won the battle of 21-year-old backup goaltenders against Tampa Bay"s Andrei Vasilevskiy, making 19 saves and not allowing a goal after giving up two in a span of 2:33 in the first period while filling in again for the injured Ben Bishop.
"I was fighting it a bit ... but you"re going to have those nights and I was able to battle through it mentally," said Murray, who has yet to lose successive games in his career. "I thought I made a couple of big saves in the third."
Murray also made a big one by stopping Alex Killorn after he got in behind the Pittsburgh defense in the closing 10 seconds of the second period.
"It was a huge save," Sullivan said.
Vasilevskiy was exceptional in defeat, making 38 saves, but it wasn"t good enough on a night when his teammates couldn"t produce a goal in the final two periods or overtime.
"He was great," said Jonathan Drouin, who scored late in the first to tie it at 2. "But we had some costly turnovers in the neutral zone. And if you make turnovers at the blue line against that team, they"ll make you pay."
Teammate Brian Boyle said Vasilevskiy was "fantastic ... he gave us a chance."
The Penguins got off to exactly the start they wanted in what could be viewed as a must-win game, getting goals from Matt Cullen and Phil Kessel less than 10 minutes into the game.
However, with Vasilevskiy turning aside several more excellent scoring chances -- including Chris Kunitz on a rush off the opening faceoff -- the Lightning came back after killing off Alex Killorn"s holding penalty at 13:23.
"He (Vasilevskiy) was the reason the game went into overtime in the first place," coach Jon Cooper said.
Defenseman Anton Stralman, back in the lineup for the first time since breaking his left leg on March 25, got the comeback started by gathering a bouncing puck and lifting it under the crossbar at 16:37.
Stralman needed only a moment to get open when Crosby and Conor Sheary bumped into each other just as Crosby was skating toward Stralman, who scored his fifth goal in four games against Pittsburgh this season.
Drouin tied it 2:33 later, taking J.T. Brown"s pass at mid-ice, skating to the top of the left circle for a wrist shot and beating Murray inside the far post. Drouin, in the lineup because of Steven Stamkos" injury, has 11 points in 12 playoff games after getting 10 in 21 regular-season games.
Cullen, who is having an excellent postseason for Pittsburgh at age 39, scored his fourth of the playoffs at 4:32 of the first, off a rebound of an Eric Fehr shot.
Kessel scored his 19th goal in 35 playoff games -- and sixth of these playoffs -- about five minutes later after Carl Hagelin"s shot rebounded to Nick Bonino, whose pass deflected off Lightning defenseman Andrej Sustr"s skate directly to Kessel.
NOTES: Penguins RW Patric Hornqvist took a puck to the head during warmups, but remained in the lineup. ... Lightning RW Ryan Callahan was not suspended for his punishing hit on Penguins D Kris Letang in Game 1, but was held out with the flu. ... Lightning D Anton Stralman played for the first time since breaking his left leg March 25. ... G Andrei Vasilevskiy made his first start since April 9, even though Vezina Trophy finalist Ben Bishop (lower body injury) apparently was not seriously injured while playing a puck in the first period of Game 1 on Friday. ... Lightning captain Steven Stamkos (blood clot surgery on April 4) is skating again but was not cleared to play. ... Pittsburgh held out D Olli Maatta, who was a minus-1 in Game 1, and replaced him with Justin Schultz. ... The Lightning scratched RW Mike Blunden, D Nikita Nesterov, D Matt Taormina and D Luke Witkowski. The Penguins held out Maatta, G Jeff Zatkoff, D Derrick Pouliot, RW Beau Bennett and RW Oskar Sundqvist.
The Bachelorette 2016 spoilers are teasing fans about who is the winner who captured JoJo Fletchers heart and won the Final Rose. Is Jordan Rogers thebachelor who won The Bachelorette and is engaged JoJo?
Its no secret that former pro football quarterback Jordan Rodgers is the favorite to win The Bachelorette season 12. Its not a sure bet, but speculation is that Jordan will get a hometown date and will bring JoJo home to meet his famous brother, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
The Final Rose Ceremony reportedly took place just a couple of weeks ago, but no one knows for sure. Is Jordan Rodgers the one who got down on one knee and asked for JoJo Fletchers hand in marriage? If all the buzz is true, Jordan is the guy to beat during JoJos season.
A photo shared by a Bachelorette 2016 fan could be an indication that yes indeed Jordan is the guy who got JoJos final rose. There are two pics on Twitter in one the couple is holding hands and in the other they are walking arm and arm. The photos appear to have been taken while Bachelorette 2016 was filming sometime in late April.
On May 12 ABC released the names and bios on of the 26 men chosen to meet and woo JoJo during Bachelorette 2016. Thats when Reality Steve started tweeting spoilers about the upcoming season.
He called this Bachelorette season 12 the JoJo and Jordan show and said that all the talk the first night was about who could take down Jordan as the front runner.
Apparently Jordan kissed JoJo the second time they talked to each other at the first cocktail party of the season. Reality Steve tweeted, Oh yeah, Jordan made out with her the second time he talked to her. Wanted to kiss her the first time the first time but didnt.
Bachelorette 2016 fans do you think Jordan Rodgersis the winner and received JoJo Fletchers final rose? Did the former professional quarterback propose marriage and slip a diamond ring on JoJos finger? The Bachelorette season 12 premieres on Monday, May 23 if all the talk about JoJo Fletcher and Jordan Rogers first night chemistry is true or not. Come back to CDL to stay ahead on The Bachelorette news!
Getting an accurate read on security line wait times at U.S. airports is no easy feat as travelers have likely discovered this week while facing hours-long lines at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints.
The best bet? Arrive at the airport with plenty of time to spare, fly at off-peak times and enroll in TSA PreCheck.
For $85 (for five years), approved PreCheck members go through specially designated lines where they are allowed to skip removing their shoes, belts and light jackets and taking laptops and liquids out of bags.
The application process involves a visit to an enrollment center to get fingerprinted and provide documentation and payment.
Enrolling in U.S. Customs and Border Protection"s Global Entry program for international travel provides TSA PreCheck eligibility in addition to easing entry into the United States.
A TSA app, called My TSA, provides information about checkpoint wait times to all travelers, yet there are no guarantees that the information is accurate.
A disclaimer reads, "The TSA makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the contents of My TSA and expressly disclaims liability for errors and omissions in the contents."
The app"s wait time information comes from passengers and is not verified by the TSA.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International -- the busiest passenger airport in the world -- offers security checkpoint wait time estimates via an alerting service called Trak-a-Line.
Passengers enter their email addresses and approximate departure times for updates.
Other airports and independent websites offer similar estimates online but are careful to add disclaimers.
Denver International Airport cautions on its website that estimates are "not intended to be a substitute for proper preparation and timely arrival."
Avoiding flights at peak times slices into the time spent creeping along behind a long line of fellow fliers.
Like highways, airports tend to get especially busy on weekdays in the early morning and later in the afternoon and early evening.
"Usually Tuesday and Wednesday are the slowest days, and midday is the slowest time any day of the week," says George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog.com.
"There are spot times and certain airports known for mad rushes, however -- Saturdays in Miami when all the cruise ships dock at the same time, so midday at MIA on a Saturday would be an exception," Hobica says.
Arrive at least two hours early for domestic flights and at least three hours before international departures.
Jaden Smithis expanding the definition of "menswear" for millions of millennials, but he"s not just a trendsetter, his gender fluidity is creating a profitable brand. Once upon a time, a young Black man wearing a dress was career suicide.
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith"s son has turned a few eyebrow-raising Instagram pics into big business, according to The Wrap.The young star landed lucrative contracts with everyone from Louis Vuitton to Nicholas Ghesquiere.
Not only that, but his rejection of traditional gender roles isn"t costing him a thing in terms of popularity or Hollywood heat: Jaden is one of the most exciting rising stars in the business, according to many, and his exposure will skyrocket after the premiere of Baz Luhrmann"s new Netflix show The Get Down, in which he stars.
All in all, Jaden is expressing himself in a unique way for a someone as high profile as he is, and it"s only helping his career. How long before other young gender fluid stars follow suit? Or more affordable brands like H&M feature men modeling their womenswear and vice versa?
Though Jaden is by no means the first young man to experiment with gender, he is among the most high profile and could be at the forefront of something big.
Get the deets on Jaden"s Louis Vuitton campaign with BET Breaks above.
Toronto Raptors vs Miami Heat - Game 6 - Full Game Highlights | May 13, 2016 | 2016 NBA Playoffs
Kyle Lowry scored 35 points, DeMar DeRozan had 28 and the Toronto Raptors beat the Miami Heat 116-89 on Sunday in Game 7 to reach the conference finals for the first time in franchise history.
Related: Miami Heat 89-116 Toronto Raptors: NBA Eastern Conference semi-final - as it happened!
Bismack Biyombo added 17 points and 16 rebounds for the Raptors. Theyll open the Eastern Conference Finals in Cleveland against LeBron James and the Cavaliers on Tuesday night. Toronto fans chanted We Want Cleveland!.
DeMarre Carroll scored 14 points, and Patrick Patterson had 11 to help the Raptors become the 15th team in NBA history to win two Game 7s in one postseason. Toronto beat Indiana in the first round.
Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic each scored 16 points for the Heat. They were denied the opportunity to renew acquaintances with former team-mate James in the conference finals.
Miami hadnt lost a Game 7 since the first round at Atlanta in 2009. They won their past four Game 7s, all at home. Miami were seeking to join the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics as the only teams to win five straight Game 7s.
Joe Johnson and Justise Winslow scored 13, and Luol Deng had 12 for the Heat. Miami, which rallied to beat Charlotte in the first round, fell short in their bid to become the first team to erase 3-2 deficits in consecutive series. The Raptors improved to 3-6 when they had a chance to eliminate their opponent, and won for the first time in 14 tries in a playoff game that started before 4pm.
Toronto lost Game 7 of the conference semi-finals to Philadelphia in 2001 when Vince Carters buzzer beater rimmed out. Charlotte, the Los Angeles Clippers, and New Orleans are the only three NBA teams to never reach a conference final.
Leading 86-78 to begin the fourth, Toronto stretched the lead to 16 on a dunk by Biyombo and back-to-back three-pointers by Carroll and Terrence Ross, making it 96-80 at 9:41.
Patterson made a layup and, following Lowrys steal on Dragic, added a pair of free throws that gave the Raptorsa102-82 lead at 7:30, all but sealing Miamis fate. The Raptors didnt let up, and a three by Lowry at 3:23 made it 111-86.
NASCAR AÉREO VS SUBS! ESTÁN LOCOS! TOOOODOS LOCOS! | BraxXter
RELATED: Full race results from Dover
The AAA400 Drive for Autism was red-flagged on Lap 354 of 400 when JimmieJohnson"s No. 48 Chevrolet failed to accelerate on a restart and caused a wreck that collected 18 cars at DoverInternationalSpeedway.
Starting from the outside lane on the front row, Johnson"s race-leading car was slow to come up to speed, causing MartinTruexJr. to rear-end the No. 48, and KevinHarvick to plow into Truex. That collision clogged the 1-mile track"s frontstretch, triggering a melee that involved nearly half the 40-car field.
"I got a great start in second gear," said Johnson, who led four laps but finished 25th. "As I went to put it in third (gear) and came across the shifting gate it never went into third. It actually got locked in the neutral area of the transmission. I had plenty of time. Martin was plenty patient with me and I was trying to get third and I couldn"t. I tried for fourth and third and fourth and I finally got hit. Just a freak deal with something with the transmission. I"ve never had that happen to me in my career."
Johnson spun into traffic behind him, damaging a list of cars that included: No. 18 KyleBusch, No. 1 JamieMcMurray, No. 43. AricAlmirola, No. 17 RickyStenhouseJr., No. 22 JoeyLogano, No. 16 GregBiffle, No. 88 DaleEarnhardtJr., No. 47 AJAllmendinger, No. 15 ClintBowyer, No. 31 RyanNewman, No. 95 MichaelMcDowell, No. 6 TrevorBayne, No. 13 CaseyMears, No. 27 PaulMenard and No. 11 DennyHamlin.
Truex was lined up fourth for the restart, taking instructions from his crew to let CarlEdwards pass him for third leaving pit road so that he would have the outside lane at the drop of the green. That placed him right behind Johnson"s lagging car, causing significant front-end damage.
Remarkably, Truex"s FurnitureRowRacing crew repaired his No. 78 Toyota enough to salvage a ninth-place finish.
"Just one of those deals: wrong place, wrong time," said Truex, who led twice for 47 laps. "Frustrating, but we got a top 10 out of it, so not too bad. The guys on pit road did a great job fixing it. Just hate that it happened. I wanted to be fourth on that restart, but I didn"t want to be fourth that bad. I should have been third so maybe I should have not let (Edwards) beat us off pit road. I don"t know how you can see those things coming. All in all good day, just bad finish."
All drivers were either evaluated or treated and released from the infield care center after the stack-up, but Almirola emerged holding an ice pack on his left hand.
"It just stinks we all got stacked up like that," said Almirola, who finished 31st. "I banged up my hand. I think I may have a broken finger, it is pretty sore and swollen. We worked really hard to get back on the lead lap and we were actually making a lot of progress it just took us all race to get back up on that lead lap. I hate that our day is going to turn out like that. That is a shame. Then to make matters worse I think I have a broken pinky finger. That isn"t very manly, is it?"
Harvick, who prevailed at the 1-mile track last fall, had led three times for a race-high 117 laps. The pole-starter finished 15th, the first driver one lap down.
Max Verstappen first ever podium Formula 1 Red Bull
What a performance from Red Bull. After grabbing all the headlines in the build up to Spain with the much discussed driver swap, all eyes were on Verstappen who looked completely at ease in his new car. At one point it looked like the youngster might even be on the front row, but Ricciardo had a stormer of a final lap to be best of the rest behind Mercedes.
Daniel Ricciardo, 3rd, 1:22.680
Firstly Im really happy to be back in the top three on Saturday and will try and be back here tomorrow! Im happy for both of us (Max and I) to be in front of the Ferraris, we are both on the second row, which is pretty awesome. It took a bit of time to come together, but in Q3 I knew I had one lap and knew I had the pace and where I could do it; it was about putting it all together up until then I hadnt, but Q3 is what counts and I did it, so Im really happy.
Max Verstappen, Position: 4th, 1:23.087
"I enjoyed the qualifying, it was getting better with every lap. For me the target today was to enjoy myself and I had a good feeling in the car. I focused on what I had to do and it worked. Im happy, I didnt expect to adapt to the car so quickly. I didnt expect to be on the second row, so its a positive feeling. We are close to a podium and hopefully we can keep our positions in tomorrows race.
Christian Horner, Team Principal
An amazing performance by both of our drivers today. It was a phenomenal final lap by Daniel Ricciardo, he only had one set of tyres in Q3 but he made the most of them and nailed the best lap of the weekend to line up third. Max Vertsappen, making his debut for the team this weekend, has proved to be the sensation that we know he is. He will line up alongside Daniel on the second row, in front of the Ferraris, which puts us in a great position for tomorrows Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen (NED) Red Bull Racing RB12 at Formula One World Championship, Rd5, Spanish Grand Prix, Qualifying, Barcelona, Spain, Saturday 14 May 2016. Sutton Images
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) Red Bull Racing RB12 at Formula One World Championship, Rd5, Spanish Grand Prix, Qualifying, Barcelona, Spain, Saturday 14 May 2016. Sutton Motorsport Images
Sauber
Qualifying towards the back of the grid, Sauber can be heartened to be ahead of the Manors, an improvement on their last outing in Russia.
Marcus Ericsson,19th, 1:25.202
Its been a tough weekend for me. I have been struggling with the balance of the car since the first practice session. We have been working really hard to get a better balance for the car, and I felt we took steps in the right direction. Now in qualifying I felt more comfortable in the car, and I am satisfied with my driving. I think the result is the maximum considering our cars current package. Unfortunately, it is not better than 19th position. I hope we can be stronger in the future.
Felipe Nasr,20th, 1:25.579
It was not an easy qualifying for us. We were expecting to face some difficulties here. But overall we did a good job with regard to the set-up of the car, especially when it comes to race preparation. In qualifying I managed to have a good lap on the first set of soft tyres. During the second run I struggled with some oversteer, so I could not improve my time. I think the results are the best we could have achieved today, as the other teams are further ahead of us. It is a long race tomorrow; a lot can happen, especially with regards to the tyre degradation.
Felipe Nasr (BRA) Sauber C35 at Formula One World Championship, Rd5, Spanish Grand Prix, Qualifying, Barcelona, Spain, Saturday 14 May 2016. Sutton Images
Marcus Ericsson (SWE) Sauber C35 at Formula One World Championship, Rd5, Spanish Grand Prix, Qualifying, Barcelona, Spain, Saturday 14 May 2016. Sutton Images
Haas
Both drivers made it into Q2 but could go no further. Grosjean had complained about the VF-16 all Friday, and two lock-ups on Saturday indicated he was still having a tough time round the Catalunya circuit. In the end it was a solid performance from Haas, and with tyre degredation an issue in Barcelona, their long run pace might bring them into play on Sunday.
Romain Grosjean, 14th, 1:24.480
I think we did a great job and everyone worked very hard overnight to get a better car. Its very close and very tight in terms of lap times. We couldnt make it to Q3, but we werent that far off. We need to find some more speed but, generally, Im very pleased with the way we worked. Im very proud of all the guys.
Esteban Gutierrez, 16th, 1:24.778
It was a great effort from the whole team to recover after the problems from yesterday. Today, I really enjoyed extracting the maximum on every run. I found a little inconsistency between the different sets of tyres, but thats something we can look into and try to improve to really get the best out of our setup. Now Im looking ahead to the race tomorrow and fighting for positions. Im excited to get back out there.
Guenther Steiner, Team Principal
Q1 was pretty good. Romain and Esteban did a great job, and I think we are back where we want to be. We finished up P14 and P16. I think were a little under where we could be, but its so close out there so many are within three-tenths. You can be 10th or 15th. All in all, we are happy where we are. We got both cars into Q2, which is a good result for us. Tomorrow, well head out and try and finish in the points.
Romain Grosjean (FRA) Haas VF-16 at Formula One World Championship, Rd5, Spanish Grand Prix, Qualifying, Barcelona, Spain, Saturday 14 May 2016. Sutton Images
Esteban Gutierrez (MEX) Haas VF-16 at Formula One World Championship, Rd5, Spanish Grand Prix, Qualifying, Barcelona, Spain, Saturday 14 May 2016. Sutton Images
Ferrari
In what can be described as a disappointing day, Ferrari locked out the third row on the grid. Both cars looked a handful in FP3 and qualifying, with Raikkonen running wide more than once. The Prancing Horse was expected to challenge Mercedes this week, but instead were comfortably leap frogged by Red Bull.
Kimi Raikkonen, 5th, 1:12.113
"It was not an easy day: we did our best, but the result is a bit disappointing. We seemed to struggle quite a lot in the last sector and I"m not surprised we were losing a lot of time there. Before qualifying we made some changes to my set-up and the car felt better, but it was not easy to get the laps that we wanted and make the handling exactly as we desired. The car felt ok yesterday, today I was quicker, but the wind has been turning around a bit, making some places quite tricky. My last run was better than so far today, but obviously it"s not where we want to be. Our rivals did a better job today, we have to keep working and improving and see what we can do tomorrow in the race."
Sebastian Vettel, 6th, 1:23.334
"I think every day can be tough but for sure I didn"t expect to be that far off, especially because this morning we had a good rhythm. I didn"t get hold of the car, I didn"t get the feeling that I had earlier today, and couldn"t nail the laps. I don"t think that it is a surprise, if you don"t get it together here it can be quite costly, and we know this. I think the gap to Mercedes is bigger than it has been all weekend. So clearly we didn"t get it right. As for tomorrow"s race, for sure the further up you qualify, the better: this rule applies everywhere. We will focus on the start, first lap and then there is a long race, and lot of things we can do. Usually there are several pit-stops here so we can play with the strategy and pass people that are slower than us. I think the car is quicker than P6, so I have high hopes for tomorrow."
Sebastian Vettel (GER) Ferrari SF16-H passes the Ferrari pit wall gantry at Formula One World Championship, Rd5, Spanish Grand Prix, Qualifying, Barcelona, Spain, Saturday 14 May 2016. Sutton Motorsport Images
Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari SF16-H at Formula One World Championship, Rd5, Spanish Grand Prix, Qualifying, Barcelona, Spain, Saturday 14 May 2016. Sutton Images
Mercedes
A front row lock out marked a good day for Mercedes. There was some early drama in FP3 when Rosberg had to nurse his car back to the pits but it turned out to be a easily fixed sensor issue and he was soon back on his way. Hamilton has trailed his team mate in the early part of qualifying, but put the perfect lap together when it mattered to grab his third pole of the season.
Lewis Hamilton, 1st, 1:22.000
"That felt great today to finally put the lap together, I"m very very happy. You always need to put that performance in, it reassures your belief, and Nico had been so fast this weekend, sometimes two tenths quicker, sometimes more. I could see on my data where I was losing, so I had to try and figure it out on track, and it is so satisfying to attack that obstacle and get through it. I am really grateful to the team for working hard overnight to put the car in the right place for me to fight - and now it"s three poles from three for me when I"ve been able to do the laps in qualifying. I haven"t had a proper race with Nico yet this year so I am hoping that will start tomorrow. It"s very hard to overtake here, so strategy is important, as is looking after the tyres: the forces round this circuit means it just eats the tyres up, so you need to get that balance just right and see it through to the finish."
Nico Rosberg, 2nd, 1:22.280
"Lewis did the better job today but tomorrow is when it really counts. There is a big opportunity for me at the beginning: I had some good starts this year and Lewis hasn"t led into the first corner this season so far. Maybe in the race there will be an opportunity. Tyre usage will also play a factor and the right strategy will be crucial. So I"m expecting a pretty interesting race and I"m looking forward to the battle. We need to keep eye on Red Bull as well, as they are surprisingly stronger than Ferrari here."
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
"After the problems we had in the last two qualifying sessions, it was great to get both cars to the end of the session today - and to see the drivers put them on the front row. It was a magic lap from Lewis. He"s struggled with the set-up this weekend but worked with the engineering team to get the car where he wanted it, and delivered at the right moment. I"m very pleased for him. As for Nico, he"s second on the grid but it looked like he had something in his pocket in Q2, so his tyres might be a little fresher for the race start - and we will see if that makes a difference tomorrow afternoon. I"m expecting a tough race, a big battle between our boys and a challenge from the guys behind us on the grid. We must make sure we do our job and give the drivers reliable equipment, then see how the race unfolds."
Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical)
"First of all, well done to all our colleagues at Brixworth, whose hard work and expertise over the past weeks has got us through the weekend reliably so far. Our aerodynamic upgrade package is also working well, which is a good confirmation that our development rate remains high and competitive. But we have had some difficult qualifying sessions recently, so it is a weight off our shoulders to have enjoyed a trouble-free session today in Barcelona - and it was a privilege to watch the battle between our two drivers performing at their very best. Congratulations to Lewis on his third pole of the season; he put in a tremendous performance during all three sessions and, at one point, was on course for a time in the 1:21 bracket. Well done to Nico, as well; he delivered some great laps to take our first all-Mercedes front row since Bahrain. Our focus now turns to tomorrow"s race. We will need good starts, given the difficulty of overtaking at this circuit, and we expect a challenging race in terms of strategy with plenty of opportunities to take advantage. We want to make sure our long-run performance is on the same level as we showed over a single lap today."
Nico Rosberg (GER) Mercedes-Benz F1 W07 Hybrid at Formula One World Championship, Rd5, Spanish Grand Prix, Qualifying, Barcelona, Spain, Saturday 14 May 2016. Sutton Images
Pole sitter Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 celebrates in parc ferme at Formula One World Championship, Rd5, Spanish Grand Prix, Qualifying, Barcelona, Spain, Saturday 14 May 2016. Sutton Images
Force India
Perez continued his strong run of form, qualifying ninth. He has looked the quicker of the two all weekend, with Hulkenberg just missing out on Q3 in 11th. Free tyre choice does give Hulkenberg more options with his strategy though, so a double points finish could be on the cards on Sunday.
Sergio Perez, 9th, 1:23.782
Im very happy to be starting ninth. This track has traditionally been a difficult one for us, so to come here with our upgrade and make Q3 feels pretty good. I think there was the potential to be even faster on my Q3 lap, but Im still happy with the result. I expect us to be strong in the race and we have a good track position, which is important on this track where its never easy to overtake. In the first stint, the cars starting just outside the top ten on fresh tyres will be a threat, but I am confident we can make a good start and stay ahead. Strategy will be important, as well as tyre management, but its not easy if you get involved in battles that take the life out of your tyres. If we can come away with a good number of points it will be a nice reward for the teams hard work and effort recently.
Nico Hlkenberg, 11th,1:24.203
Its always a bit disappointing to miss out on Q3 by just one hundredth of a second, but on the other hand starting from P11 gives us the chance to explore the strategy options with a free choice of tyre for the first stint. We brought a big upgrade here this weekend and generally its working well, but Im not totally comfortable in the car and Im still chasing the balance. I feel quite optimistic about tomorrow because our long run pace looked solid and weve got a good chance of scoring some points.
Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal
To come to Barcelona one of the most demanding tracks where aero performance dominates - and qualify in ninth and eleventh places is an excellent effort by the whole team. Everybody has worked extremely hard to deliver our new aerodynamic package and weve already reaped the rewards with our performance today. Sergio and Nico both delivered tidy laps and Nico was within a whisker of joining Sergio in Q3. Those starting positions give us a great opportunity to score a good number of points and make up for the misfortune weve experienced in some of the earlier races this season.
Nico Hulkenberg (GER) Force India VJM09 at Formula One World Championship, Rd5, Spanish Grand Prix, Qualifying, Barcelona, Spain, Saturday 14 May 2016. Sutton Motorsport Images
Sergio Perez (MEX) Force India VJM09 at Formula One World Championship, Rd5, Spanish Grand Prix, Qualifying, Barcelona, Spain, Saturday 14 May 2016. Sutton Images
Williams
Williams made a costly mistake in Q1, a timing issue meaning Massa will start from 18th tomorrow. Out of position, he will be looking to make up places from the start. Bottas was comfortably inside the top ten, without ever really challenging the Red Bulls or Ferraris.
Valtteri Bottas, 7th, 1:23.522
"I was hoping for a bit better result, but it was a good lap so I am pleased with how we did in Q3. Its a shame about Felipe. Tomorrow, we need to set the bar high and aim to be in the top five in the race. Its possible with a good start and our strategy, so well try to make up as many places as we can."
Felipe Massa, 18th, 1:24.941
"Im so disappointed about what happened. I had traffic on my first run so I couldnt do a clean lap. We didnt have time to go out on another set of tyres. Traffic or problems on the lap can happen, but we still need to ensure we can react accordingly. Its a long race tomorrow though, so we still need to aim to challenge for points."
Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering
"Overall its a disappointing qualifying session. Our fastest car is in seventh position which is where we predicted we would get to, but its not enough. Valtteri did everything that he could with the car to get to that position, and were quite close to the Ferraris, which is positive. Felipe didnt get his lap right and we didnt have enough time to do another run, so we need to look at whats gone wrong on his lap, because we had eight tenths of a margin to get through into Q2, and then we have to look at what we could have done better operationally as well. Well dissect everything, be open and honest, and do better. What we have to concentrate on now is the race tomorrow. Valtteris starting from a good position, and hopefully he can get some good points and get amongst the cars in front. With Felipe we need to be a little clever with the strategy, and think about what we can do in order to get into the back end of the points with him."
Felipe Massa (BRA) Williams FW38 at Formula One World Championship, Rd5, Spanish Grand Prix, Qualifying, Barcelona, Spain, Saturday 14 May 2016. Sutton Images
Valtteri Bottas (FIN) Williams FW38 at Formula One World Championship, Rd5, Spanish Grand Prix, Qualifying, Barcelona, Spain, Saturday 14 May 2016. Sutton Motorsport Images
Manor
Wehrlein won the intra-team battle at Manor, beating Haryanto by nearly two tenths of a second. On a track favouring downforce, the team did as well as could be expected.
Pascal Wehrlein, 21st, 1:25.745
I think our qualifying performance was the maximum for us today. Our new developments are working well but even so we knew this track would not be our strongest because you really need a lot of downforce here and thats an area where we still need to keep making improvements. Also it appears that we havent solved our degradation problems fully. I think this is where we are at this event but there will be some better tracks coming soon for us.
Rio Haryanto, 22nd, 1:25.939
Im disappointed today as we pushed really hard in practice and qualifying. Weve definitely seen some improvements with the new parts we have for this race but not enough to get ahead of the teams were competing against at this particular circuit. Still, Im very focused on tomorrow and after the frustration of Russia Im looking forward to actually racing, then I hope we can have a stronger day.
Dave Ryan, Racing Director
We have mixed feelings about our weekend here so far. On the one hand, there are some positive signs from our new developments. On the other, this was always going to be a tricky circuit for us to be able to demonstrate their benefit. We still have a lot of work to do to move us forward. Pascal and Rio did a good job today, so theyll be disappointed with where theyre starting the race. Nevertheless, weve also seen them fighting hard in previous races to fight with the cars around us, so lets see what tomorrow brings.
Pascal Wehrlein (GER) Manor Racing MRT05 at Formula One World Championship, Rd5, Spanish Grand Prix, Qualifying, Barcelona, Spain, Saturday 14 May 2016. Sutton Motorsport Images
Rio Haryanto (IDN) Manor Racing MRT05 at Formula One World Championship, Rd5, Spanish Grand Prix, Qualifying, Barcelona, Spain, Saturday 14 May 2016. Sutton Images
McLaren
Alonso looked to be enjoying himself at his home grand prix and made it to Q3 for the first time this season. Button struggled to match his team mate, complaining about balance issues with the rear end of his MP4-31.
Fernando Alonso, 10th, 1:23.981
Today is the first time in a long while that I havent watched Q3 on television!
And its nice to be part of the show. This is new-shape McLaren-Hondas first time in Q3 but, in truth, we probably deserved this result a couple of races ago.
But never mind that now: lets just enjoy it before we turn our attention to tomorrow and look at how we can convert it into world championship points. Thatll require some thought because, for the first time this year, well be starting on used Q2 tyres we dont have a free choice, which is a slight handicap that well look to recover somehow.
Nonetheless, we should be thinking about moving forwards tomorrow and doing that here is usually all about the start and the pit-stops. Put it this way: I dont think well see too much overtaking tomorrow. That means we really need to focus on the start, and then look after our tyres because degradation is likely to be a factor.
Theres still a long way to go, but this is a good step.
Jenson Button, 12th, 1:24.348
This result has been a long time coming for the McLaren-Honda team. Fair play to Fernando hes been very quick all weekend, and this afternoons Q3 success is great for the team.
Having said that, merely getting into Q3 isnt where we want to be as a team, but we did a good job today. And I hope its put a smile on everyones faces.
However, its been a tough weekend for me. My car has been suffering from a loose-feeling rear end, which isnt how I like it to feel because it means I cant fully commit into corners. I tried my best, but driving around that handling characteristic has never been my strong point.
Still, I adapted reasonably well to it this weekend, and, to end up just-one-and-a-half tenths off Fernandos time is the best its been all weekend.
Ill start tomorrows race on new tyres too, so Im not too upset.
Eric Boullier,McLaren-Honda Racing Director
Todays qualifying session was the 24th weve entered since we renewed our partnership with Honda and the result, our first appearance in Q3, is a welcome relief even though its taken a long time coming.
In truth, however, although Fernandos having bagged a top-10 grid slot for his home Grand Prix will cheer the local fans, and rightly so, the reason it pleases us is that its firm evidence of our slow but sure progress from past lows to future highs. Ive said it before and Ill say it again: were on a journey, a difficult journey, but its clear that were going in the right direction.
Moreover, although Jenson narrowly failed to get through to Q3, he too is very well positioned to launch an aggressive yet canny offensive towards a points-scoring position tomorrow afternoon.
We got both cars into the points in Sochi two weeks ago, and a repeat performance has to be our goal here in Barcelona tomorrow.
Yusuke Hasegawa, Honda R&D Co Ltd Head of F1 Project & Executive Chief Engineer
It was a great feeling to reach our first Q3 session as McLaren-Honda with Fernandos P10 finish today. Jenson also finished a good P12, with only a 0.2 second difference to Fernando, and he has the benefit of selecting his starting tyre.
"Though still not fully up to their satisfaction, both drivers saw an improvement to the feeling of the car, thanks to the teams hard work last night. We know that the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is a difficult circuit at which to overtake, so hopefully we can use this good starting position to finish with both car in the points."
Fernando Alonso (ESP) McLaren MP4-31 at Formula One World Championship, Rd5, Spanish Grand Prix, Qualifying, Barcelona, Spain, Saturday 14 May 2016. Sutton Images
Jenson Button (GBR) McLaren MP4-31 at Formula One World Championship, Rd5, Spanish Grand Prix, Qualifying, Barcelona, Spain, Saturday 14 May 2016. Sutton Motorsport Images
Toro Rosso
Sainz had looked pacey all weekend, and qualified eighth at his home race. Kvyat had a more difficult day, failing to make Q3 and burning up much needed fresh rubber which he may rue tomorrow.
Carlos Sainz, 8th,1.23.643
Im very happy with todays qualifying! Weve been strong the whole weekend so far and todays P8 was the maximum we could hope for, and we did it Im very satisfied with my lap in Q3. Tomorrows race will be a very interesting one, and to start from the fourth row in front of my home crowd is something Im looking forward to. To race on home soil is always special, something that Ive been dreaming of since I was four years old, when I started to watch Formula 1. To finally be here, living the dream, is an awesome feeling and I will try and enjoy myself and put on a good show for all the fans out there.
Danill Kvyat, 13th,1:24.445
Im still getting used to the team and the car, so it hasnt been the easiest of qualifying sessions. To be out in Q2 isnt what one wants to see, but the general feeling is positive, I feel better and better in the car and in the future we will do better Im just not a very patient guy! We need to analyse and find where we couldve done better to improve very quickly for the next races. Starting in P13 is not too bad, so we will do our best to score some points tomorrow the race is very long, lets see where we end up.
James Key, Technical Director
Its been an interesting and busy weekend for us so far. Weve been working hard with our new engineering structure and integrating Daniil back into the team. We are working very well with him and he has had a lot to adapt to. With every run he has done he has got more used to the car and continually found more performance, and we are getting the set-up more towards what he is looking for. Effectively we are trying to do the work of winter testing in the space of a race weekend! However Daniils learning curve has been very steep and he is settling in well. I think after Sundays race and a day of testing next week we will be back up to speed.
Q1 was pretty straightforward for both Daniil and Carlos, although we went for a second run with Daniil just as a precaution, which unfortunately was not required. This left him with only one completely new set of soft tyres in Q2, although the risk of not running again was a little too high at the time. Maybe that put him at a bit of a disadvantage and he just missed out on Q3.
Carlos did exactly what he needed to do today and got through to the top 10 as planned. We knew we wouldnt be able to compete with the first three teams because they are a bit too far ahead, but we battled well and ended up just behind a Williams. He has had a very clean and focused weekend so far and I am sure he will carry that through to tomorrow. P8 is a decent place to start and we will target moving forwards from there, as our race pace is typically better than our qualifying pace. The good work Carlos has done with tyre management so far this weekend will help that too. The target is to get both cars in the points.
Carlos Sainz (ESP) Scuderia Toro Rosso STR11 at Formula One World Championship, Rd5, Spanish Grand Prix, Qualifying, Barcelona, Spain, Saturday 14 May 2016. Sutton Motorsport Images
Daniil Kvyat (RUS) Scuderia Toro Rosso STR11 at Formula One World Championship, Rd5, Spanish Grand Prix, Qualifying, Barcelona, Spain, Saturday 14 May 2016. Sutton Images
Renault
Magnussen comfortably made it to Q2, and will start from 15th. A second consecutive finish in the points isn"t impossible for the Dane. Palmer"s reduced running on Friday hampered his chances of finding the optimum set-up and he exited in Q1.
Kevin Magnussen, 15th, 1:24.625
I think we got everything out of the car, and we did a good job as a team to maximise our potential. I think fifteenth is absolutely the best that we could do today. Looking at it like that, its been a good day but Im certainly looking forward to improving over the coming races. For tomorrow, we have to be ready for any opportunities that present themselves. Im aiming to stay out of trouble and gain all the positions available.
Jolyon Palmer, 17th, 1:24.903
It was disappointing to be so close to getting into Q2 but just being pipped at the final moment. The cars clearly improved and felt good, I felt happy with my lap from behind the wheel but we were not quite where we needed to be come the end of the session. Theres a little bit more time in the car; lets try to make some places in the race tomorrow.
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director
"It was good to make it into Q2 and this shows that progress is being made. We have further significant upgrades to come for the test so today is just another step in this process.
"Jolyon was very close to being in Q2 despite missing a lot of running yesterday which was a strong effort and Kevin was able to deliver the close to the cars full potential so it was a good job from both sides of the garage today.
"It will be a tough race for tyres as we see a lot of degradation here - certainly a lot more than seen at the last couple of races - which should mean a reasonable variety of tyre strategies. Obviously, well be seeking to capitalise from this and move forwards a decent amount with both cars."
Kevin Magnussen (DEN) Renault Sport F1 Team RS16 at Formula One World Championship, Rd5, Spanish Grand Prix, Qualifying, Barcelona, Spain, Saturday 14 May 2016. Sutton Images
Jolyon Palmer (GBR) Renault Sport F1 Team RS16 at Formula One World Championship, Rd5, Spanish Grand Prix, Qualifying, Barcelona, Spain, Saturday 14 May 2016. Sutton Motorsport Images
Pirelli
Paul Hembery, Pirelli Motorsport Director
Theres certainly been plenty to talk about from qualifying. Pole here was more than 2.6 seconds faster than last year, which confirms the pattern that we have seen in every session so far this year in Barcelona. That sets us up for an entertaining battle tomorrow, where strategy will definitely play an important part. We would expect most drivers to go for a two-stop strategy tomorrow although there will be some who are likely to try a three-stopper.
