MELBOURNE, Australia - Reigning Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel says he cant understand why he struggled so much in a rain-hit qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday, pushing him down to a starting grid spot of 12th for Sundays race. Vettel, who is aiming for his fifth-straight drivers championship, was brought down to earth at a rainy Albert Park street circuit, finishing well off the pace of pole sitter Lewis Hamilton and his new Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo. The German described the handling of his car as "horrible" during pre-qualifying practice, and things only got worse in qualifying "Once it started to rain, I was struggling with drivability ... it made life pretty difficult," Vettel said. Though disappointed with his own poor grid position, Vettel was buoyed by Ricciardos performance, which indicated Red Bull was not far off the pace of the front-running Mercedes despite a trouble-strewn preseason in which the team suffered an array of problems with the new V6 turbo hybrid engine. "There is performance in the car and that is the important thing," Vettel said. "We have a quick car and we just need to make it robust and reliable, but thats better than having a robust and reliable car and trying to make that quick." Vettel was at a loss to explain why Ricciardos car was apparently so much easier to drive. "There was not supposed to be a difference between the cars so today was not too happy on my side and we need to understand that, but fortunately it worked for him, so at least we have one car where it belongs." Custom Nike Washington Nationals Jerseys .C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes used a strong third period to extend their winning streak to three games. Cyber Monday Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys .com) - Patrik Elias registered the winner in the shootout as New Jersey nipped Toronto 2-1 at Prudential Center on Wednesday. https://www.customjerseysnikebaseball.com/.com) - Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Edwin Encarnacion has been named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending May 11. Custom Nike San Francisco Giants Jerseys .ca! There is plenty of blame to be shared as a result of the most recent NHL player (Pittsburghs Brooks Orpik) to be evacuated from the ice on a stretcher following an ugly incident Saturday night in Boston. Custom Nike Atlanta Braves Jerseys . He had even more fun Friday. Coming off a sensational rookie season, Spieth opened the new year by never coming close to bogey and making a 12-foot birdie putt on the last hole for a 7-under 66.PARIS - Torontos Daniel Nestor and Serbian partner Nenad Zimonjic were eliminated from the French Open on Monday after dropping a 6-7 (2), 6-3, 7-6 (5) quarter-final decision to Marin Draganja of Croatia and Florin Mergea of Romania. Nestor and Zimonjic entered the tournament on a roll after winning back-to-back clay titles at Madrid and Rome. However, Draganja and Mergea took the third-set tiebreaker after trailing 4-1 to upset the third-seeded duo. "Its disappointing to lose but especially when you feel you have a chance to win a Slam," said Nestor. "We were prepared for this match. We had also gotten out of danger in previous matches this season and dealt with situations well. "It just didnt work out today." The match lasted two hours 18 minutes. Nestor had been bidding for a seventh Paris semifinal appearance. After Dragganja and Mergea tied the match at a set apiece, Zimonjic was broken to start the third.dddddddddddd They got the break back to move to 4-4 but were unable to prevent the tiebreaker. The underdogs earned the victory on their first match point to conclude a final set which took just over an hour. "Nobody is a nobody," Nestor said of the relatively unknown winning side. "They returned well, with like 20 clean winners. Its unfortunate we didnt do something with our chances in the tiebreaker. Every match is close from the first round. "We didnt do enough with some returns and should have played better." The 41-year-old Canadian is still alive in the mixed doubles competition with Kristina Mladenovic of France. Nestor and Zimonjic had won their last 11 clay matches and finished the clay campaign with a 16-3 record. ' ' '