Formula One is likely to be more predictable this season after teams opted to stick with last year's tyre specification, according to Pirelli's racing head Mario Isola. Isola said all the teams were now very familiar with the 2019 tyres and there would be no learning curve, as in the past, and nor should there be any struggle with the warmup phase.

Carlos Sainz will take the Dakar Rally lead into the rest day after losing a duel with teammate Stephane Peterhansel on the sixth stage on Friday. Peterhansel won his second stage, the 78th of his unparalleled career in the Dakar, but Sainz trailed him to the finish outside the Saudi capital Riyadh only 93 seconds behind.

Lebanon may lift a travel ban on ousted Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn if files pertaining to his case do not arrive from Japan within 40 days, caretaker justice minister Albert Serhan said in a statement on Friday. Ghosn fled Japan to Lebanon, his childhood home, last month as he awaited trial on charges of under-reporting earnings, breach of trust and misappropriation of company funds, all of which he denies.

Belgium's federal police have fallen foul of tighter emissions controls that entered force at the start of the year, with a number of its cars and vans now too dirty to enter the cities of Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent. The police force said it did not have sufficient funds to renew its entire fleet of several thousand vehicles and had already warned the authorities of the risk. A spokeswoman declined to say how many vehicles now failed to meet the stricter rules.

Soaring demand for SUVs drove record sales for premium carmakers including BMW and Mercedes last year, leaving the industry on collision course with government efforts to tackle global warming despite big investments in electric vehicles. BMW said on Friday deliveries by its main luxury brand rose 2% to a record 2,168,516 vehicles last year, thanks to a 21% jump in sales of its "X" branded sport-utility vehicles (SUV) which now make up 44% of the BMW brand's global sales. At Mercedes

"Due to a new state law, we are making some changes to help ensure that Uber remains a dependable source of flexible work for California drivers," the company said in the email. The change applies to all private rides, while upfront prices will continue to be provided for shared, or pooled rides. The email included a picture displaying an example of a ride request on the Uber app.

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