MONACO -- As Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel struggles to get into gear, Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardos is gliding through the curves. Ricciardo is in fifth place overall, six points behind fourth-place Vettel, and secured his first career podium two weeks ago when he finished third at the Spanish Grand Prix. The Australian driver has beaten Vettel in qualifying in three of the five races, and has twice featured on the front row -- qualifying second in Australia and in China. Vettel was so dominant last year, winning the last nine races and 13 overall, that it seemed highly improbable Ricciardo would challenge him in his first season since moving from Toro Rosso. "Some people didnt expect this from me, but I knew deep down that I could do well," Ricciardo said at the Monaco GP on Friday. "If I am able to push a four-time world champion then I know that I am doing something right." Rule changes to engine size and lowered fuel loads have blighted Red Bull, which is unable to generate the same speed, and is lagging way behind Mercedes, as Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg run away with the championship. "Seb had a car at the end of last year he was very comfortable with, so it might have taken him a little by surprise to have a more complex car this year," Ricciardo said. "Maybe I have adapted to the new conditions a bit quicker." Vettel had a frosty relationship with former teammate Mark Webber, who retired after last years championship. Although there are no signs of tension between him and Ricciardo, it appears Vettels team role has somewhat lessened this season. "Particularly in preseason, Seb was doing a lot of the talking within the team and a lot of the feedback, because he knew everyone and they trusted him," Ricciardo said. "But now that I have some results and Ive got to know the team a lot better, they are now leaning on both of us for feedback." Ricciardo would be ahead of Vettel had he not been disqualified in front of his home fans at the season-opening Australian GP, where he was stripped of his second-place finish, and the 18 points that go with it, for breaching F1s new rules on fuel usage. "It did so much for my confidence seeing all those people cheering and shouting my name," Ricciardo said. "It actually made me even hungrier with how it went because it got taken away from me." Athletics Jerseys China . - Maynor Figueroa headed in a late goal to give Honduras a 1-1 draw with the United States in an international friendly Tuesday. Oakland Athletics Gear .Y. -- Phil Jackson lost out on his preferred coach, but hes working hard on keeping his star player. https://www.cheapathleticsonline.com/.Y. - Brooklyn Nets centre Brook Lopez has a strained lower back and will miss at least a week. Oakland Athletics Store . The Blueshirts hope to stay alive once again when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins in Sundays Game 6 battle at Madison Square Garden. Athletics Jerseys 2019 . LOUIS -- The St.LONDON, Ont. -- Edgars Kulda and Luke Bertolucci each scored twice to lift the Edmonton Oil Kings to a 5-2 win over the London Knights at the Memorial Cup on Sunday. Playing their second game in as many nights, the Western Hockey League champions improved to 1-1 in the tournament. Reid Petryk also scored for the Oil Kings. Kulda had an assist for a three-point game. Alex Basso and Dakota Mermis scored Londons first goals of the tournament, but the host Knights remained winless after two games. London needs a win over the Ontario Hockey Leagues Guelph Storm in the final round-robin game Wednesday or the host team will be eliminated from Cup contention. Knights are 0-for-2 on penalty shots in the tournament. Edmontons Tristan Jarry stopped Ryan Rupert in the first period and made 38 saves overall in the win. London goalie Anthony Stolarz gave up three goals on 27 shots and was replaced after two periods by Jake Patterson, who made 11 saves. The Storm and Quebec Major Junior Hockey Leagues Val-dOr Foreurs meet Monday in a battle of 1-0 teams. The team with the best round-robin record gets a bye to Sundays final. The clubs finishing second and third meet in Fridays semifinal. A tie for third means a tiebreaker game Thursday. The Knights opened with a loss to Val-dOr despite outshooting the Foreurs 51-28. Edmonton fell 5-2 to the Storm on Saturday night. London was one of three OHL teams to score over 300 goals during the regular season. The Knights were eliminated by the Storm on April 11 in the second round of playoffs and are slow to recover theiir scoring touch.dddddddddddd Rupert was hauled down on a breakaway late in the first period by Edmonton defenceman Ashton Sautner. Jarry squeezed his pads together to foil Ruperts five-hole attempt. Val-dOr goalie Antoine Bibeau stopped Londons Bo Horvat on a penalty shot in the third period in the tournament-opener. Bertolucci scored Edmontons first power-play goal of the tournament at 18:23 of the third period when Knights right-winger Michael McCarron was in the penalty box for punching Mitchel Moroz. London scored on a delayed penalty at 9:27 in the third to pull within two goals. Max Domi buzzed around the offensive zone with the puck to get an extra attacker on the ice before shooting. Mermis batted in the rebound in a goal-mouth scramble. Kulda collected his own rebound and banked the puck off a sprawling Stolarz at 18:04 of the second period for the Latvians second goal of the game. Basso pulled the Knights within a goal at 16:12. The defenceman had a clear shooting lane at Jarry, who got a piece of Bassos blast, but the puck bobbled over his glove and in. Kulda gave the visitors a 2-0 lead at 6:05 of the second period. The left-winger rushed the puck out of the neutral zone, cut left across the top of the faceoff circles and beat Stolarz with a wrist shot on the goalies stick side. The Knights killed off Edmontons two-man advantage in the first period, but Petryk struck at 9:42 just seconds after the second minor expired. Kulda teed the puck up for Petryk in the high slot and the overage forward beat Stolarz top shelf. ' ' '