Raphael Stevens

Fernando Alonso of Spain driving the (14) Alpine A521 Renault stops in the Pitlane during the F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain at Bahrain International Circuit on March 28, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain.Peter Fox | Getty Images Sport | Getty ImagesFernando Alonso was forced into an early retirement on his long-awaited Formula 1 return at the Bahrain GP in bizarre circumstances — with a discarded sandwich wrapper revealed as the cause of the issue.The much-lauded two-time champion was excelling on his first F1 weekend since 2018 – qualifying ninth and running seventh in the early stages of the race — but lost pace after his first pit-stop before having to retire after his second.Alonso initially told Sky Sports F1 that there was some “debris on the brake duct” and that it was “unlucky” because of how small the hole was.But his Alpine team said that it was actually a sandwich wrap paper which caused race-ending overheating issues on his car.”After his first stop we had a small issue that forced us to reduce the performance of the car, then after the second stop, a sandwich wrap paper got stuck inside the rear brake duct of Fernando’s car,” said Alpine executive director Marcin Budkowski.Read more stories from Sky SportsMurray interested in becoming golf caddie after tennis careerMerson Says: Man City must have Aguero replacement lined upPapers: Haaland to cost Man City £300m[That] led to high temperatures and caused some damage to the brake system, so we retired him for safety reasons. It was a very unlucky first race for Fernando considering how strong he looked.”Sunday’s season-opener at the Sakhir circuit had fans in attendance after organizers made tickets available to those fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or who had recovered from the virus. Most of last year’s grands prix were behind closed doors.”Up until [the retirement] it was fun,” added Alonso to Sky F1’s Natalie Pinkham. “It was a fun race to be out there, have some battle with my colleagues and hopefully in Imola we will be ready and try again.”Fernando Alonso of Spain and Alpine F1 Team looks on from the grid prior to the F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain at Bahrain International Circuit on March 28, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain.Bryn Lennon | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images More

The 3 acre Northern California estate where “White Christmas” crooner Bing Crosby and his family once lived has just hit the market for $13.75 million.Exterior of 101 Robin Road, Hillsborough, CADennis Mayer | OMARSHALL Real EstateBuilt in 1930, the English Tudor-style residence is just under 10,000 square feet with 10 bedrooms and 10.5 bathrooms and a heated swimming pool out back.The mega-home is located in the affluent San Francisco suburb of Hillsborough. According to OMarshall Real Estate listing agent Joey Oliva, Crosby and his family owned the home from 1963 to 1966.Bing Crosby in Hillsborough by Norton Pearl, 1965Norton Pearl Photography | SAN MATEO COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION”As the story goes, Bing had just finished a round of golf in Hillsborough when he was approached by the original owners and spontaneously invited to see the home,” Oliva told CNBC. “As soon as Bing saw the grand foyer with the wide oak staircase and glass lead picture window … he bought it on the spot.”Take a look insideFoyerDennis Mayer | OMARSHALL Real EstateAccording to the listing agent, Crosby bought the home from its original owners — the Dyer family — one of the initial investors in Eastman Kodak Co. At the time, Crosby reportedly paid $175,000 for the residence (just under $1.5 million in today’s dollars.) After Crosby, the Millers (Folgers family) owned the home and later sold it to the Roche family for $8 million in 2014, according to public records.FoyerDennis Mayer | OMARSHALL Real Estate”It was a visceral reaction,” current owner Suzanne Roche said, recalling the time she first stepped inside the 9,875 square foot residence. “I walked in (the same as Bing apparently did) and stood in the foyer and fell in love with it immediately.”The living room is a ballroom with a grand piano, fireplace and three sets of French doors that open to a terrace.Living roomDennis Mayer | OMARSHALL Real EstateRoche is executive director of the nonprofit Jazz at the Ballroom, which according to the organization’s website, works “with the world’s most talented jazz musicians in intimate and unique settings and focus[es] on the Great American Songbook.””Ms. Roche felt bringing the American songbook back to her ballroom and grounds was important in paying homage to the spirit of Bing Crosby,” the home’s listing agent says.Living roomDennis Mayer | OMARSHALL Real EstateOne of the walls in the ballroom has a secret door that blends in into the wood paneling.Secret door in living room blends in with the wood panelingJoey Oliva | OMARSHALL Real EstateIt opens to reveal what the owners refer to as a “speakeasy” — a room with a bench, windows and a bar cart.A secret door in the living room opens into a bar room.Dennis Mayer | OMARSHALL Real Estate”Visitors are surprised to find such a secret alcove where one can enjoy scotch in private,” Oliva said.Dining roomDennis Mayer | OMARSHALL Real EstateSteps away is the home’s formal dining room, which opens to a terrace and lawn.KitchenDennis Mayer | OMARSHALL Real EstateAccording to the listing, there was a major remodel in 2014, including the kitchen, pantry, mud room, laundry room and bathrooms.Primary bedroomDennis Mayer | OMARSHALL Real EstateThe home’s primary bedroom suite is located on the second floor.BathroomDennis Mayer / OMARSHALL Real EstateIt has two full bathrooms, a walk-in closet and windows that overlook the gardens.Walk-in closetDennis Mayer | OMARSHALL Real EstateRemnants of the pastThere were even some items the Crosby family left behind when the current owner moved in.LibraryDennis Mayer | OMARSHALL Real Estate”Lots of little household things,” Roche said. “But the best were old records in a hidden cabinet and the framed picture of the home that the Crosbys’ friend drew for them. They used it as a Christmas card that year.”Crosby family Christmas cardSuzanne RocheThe linen closet still has the labels for Mr. & Mrs. Crosby’s blankets.The home’s linen closet shows labels for Mr. & Mrs. Crosby’s blanketsJoey Olivia | OMARSHALL Real Estate”The backyard is where Bing used to relax, and the original owners told me it was where everyone met every evening for a cocktail before dinner,” Roche said.It’s also the current owner’s favorite spot of the house, where she has hosted large gatherings and private concerts.Why they’re selling”Post-divorce, the house is just too much for one person,” Roche said. “It requires a lot of attention, time and upkeep.”As for who she hopes will buy the property: “Someone creative, quirky, and provocative … who will turn it into an artists’ colony!”CNBC Real EstateRead CNBC’s latest coverage of the housing market:Some landlords sell properties as CDC extends eviction banExisting home sales fell sharply in February as supply dropped at a record paceThe housing market stands at a tipping pointChristopher DiLella is a producer for CNBC’s special projects unit. Like this story? Subscribe to “Secret Lives of the Super Rich” on YouTube!Don’t miss: Take a video tour of a $19 million Delray Beach, Florida mansion More

In this articlePTONLULUGOOGLAAPLJNJAMZNJWNCMCSATonal in-home fitness.Source: TonalThe at-home fitness start-up Tonal said Wednesday it has raised an additional $250 million in funding, valuing the business at $1.6 billion.That brings Tonal’s total funding to $450 million. Participants in the Series E round include the investment firm Dragoneer, which led the round, along with Cobalt Capital, L Catterton and Sapphire Ventures.The company said it plans to use the fresh capital to accelerate its marketing efforts, to open more brick-and-mortar stores, and to invest in logistics and manufacturing to meet what it says is unprecedented demand. The funding also brings Tonal one step closer to an initial public offering, according to its CEO, who declined to offer a firm timeline on when that might take place.”The first piece of this is really scaling the business and being able to capture all the demand that we have, and preparing the company for an IPO,” Chief Executive Officer Aly Orady said. “There’s still a lot of growth ahead of us, and that’s going to require us to deploy money into different marketing channels, including of course retail.”Tonal said its 2020 sales grew more than eight-times year over year, as customers looked for ways to build better workout routines at home during the Covid pandemic.Tonal’s wall-mounted workout stations retail for $2,995. The company says it can offer users a total-body workout by generating up to 200 pounds of resistance, using an electromagnetic resistance engine instead of classic weights. It competes with other at-home fitness equipment manufacturers Peloton, Hydrow and Lululemon’s Mirror.In early March, Tonal and Nordstrom announced a partnership that puts Tonal devices in 40 of Nordstrom’s department stores, to help stir up interest around the brand.”Physical touch is important to us,” Orady said.Other prior Tonal investors include Amazon’s Alexa Fund, tennis star Serena Williams and Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry.Tonal also announced Wednesday a slew of new hires across the business.It has named Shannon Crespin, previously an executive at Johnson & Johnson, as chief operations officer. Gregory de Gunzburg, who previously served as head of corporate strategy and development for NBCUniversal where he led the launch of Peacock, has been named chief strategy officer. Bryan James, who has held roles at Google and Apple, has landed the role of chief technology officer.”We’re building out the leadership team and making sure we have the … team that can scale the business beyond an IPO,” Orady said.Disclosure: NBCUniversal is CNBC’s parent company. More

In this articleJNJMRNABNTXPFEA nurse Cindy Mendez wearing a protective mask holds a syringe with a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, at NYC Health + Hospitals Harlem Hospital in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, February 25, 2021.Jeenah Moon | ReutersPfizer said Wednesday its Covid-19 vaccine was 100% effective in a study of adolescents aged 12 to 15, encouraging results that could clear the shots for use in middle school students before school starts this fall.Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said the company plans to submit the new data on the vaccine, which is developed in partnership with German drugmaker BioNTech, to the Food and Drug Administration and other regulators “as soon as possible,” with the hope that kids in the age group will be able to get vaccinated before the next school year.”We share the urgency to expand the authorization of our vaccine to use in younger populations and are encouraged by the clinical trial data from adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15,” Bourla said in a press release.The trial enrolled 2,260 participants in the United States. There were 18 confirmed Covid-19 infections observed in the placebo group and no confirmed infections in the group that received the vaccine, the company said. That resulted in a vaccine efficacy of 100%, it said, adding that the shot was also well-tolerated, with side effects generally consistent with those seen in adults.The company also said the vaccine elicited a “robust” antibody response in children, exceeding those in an earlier trial of 16- to 25-year olds.Vaccinating children is crucial to ending the pandemic, public health officials and infectious disease experts say. The nation is unlikely to achieve herd immunity – when enough people in a given community have antibodies against a specific disease – until children can get vaccinated, experts say.Children make up around 20% of the U.S. population, according to government data. Between 70% and 85% of the U.S. population needs to be vaccinated against Covid to achieve herd immunity, experts say, and some adults may refuse to get the shots.Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former commissioner at the FDA and a member of the board of Pfizer, said he expects it will take the U.S. agency about a month to review the new data. If the FDA process goes well, the vaccine could be available for kids between 12 and 15 by the fall, he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist who has sat on several data and safety monitoring boards, called the results “wonderful news,” saying it is a “huge step forward” in protecting more people against the virus and making schools safer for kids.”We’re talking about improving the safety of youth activity like youth sports and youth art and youth extracurricular activities,” he said.Pfizer’s vaccine has already been authorized for use in the U.S. in people 16 and older. Clinical trial studies testing the vaccine in kids, whose immune systems can respond differently than adults, still needed to be completed.The White House’s chief medical advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told a House committee earlier this month that the U.S. could begin vaccinating older kids against Covid-19 this fall while elementary-aged children may start getting their shots early next year.CNBC Health & ScienceRead CNBC’s latest coverage of the Covid pandemic:Mutations could render current Covid vaccines ineffective in a year or less, epidemiologists warn New Covid strain detected in Israel; Pfizer vaccine appears effective against it Covid-19 cases, deaths, and vaccinations: Daily U.S. data on March 30, 2021Moderna, which also has a vaccine authorized in the U.S., said on March 16 that it had begun testing its shot in children under age 12. Moderna in December began a study testing kids ages 12 to 17.Johnson & Johnson plans to test its single-shot vaccine in infants and even in newborns, after testing it first in older children, according to The New York Times.Pfizer began testing its vaccine in kids as young as 12 in October. It announced last week it started a clinical trial testing its Covid-19 vaccine on healthy 6-month to 11-year old children.For the first phase of that trial, the company will identify the preferred dosing level for three age groups – between 6 months and 2 years old, 2 and 5 and from 5 through age 11. The kids will begin by receiving a 10 microgram dose of the vaccine before progressively moving to higher doses, according to the company. Participants also have the option to take 3 microgram doses.Bogoch said it is difficult to predict if the vaccine will work as well in young kids as it does in adolescents, though he added he was “optimistic.”Pfizer said Wednesday it plans to request an amendment to its current emergency use authorization with the FDA to include adolescents 12 to 15 years of age. All participants in the trial will continue to be monitored for an additional two years after their second dose, the company said.Pfizer and BioNTech said they plan to submit the data for scientific peer review.Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer, genetic testing start-up Tempus and biotech company Illumina. Gottlieb also serves as co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings′ and Royal Caribbean’s “Healthy Sail Panel.” More

In this articleBNTXPFEThe United States’ Covid-19 cases are trending upward again, with nationwide infection levels far below January’s peak of about 250,000 new cases per day but approaching numbers seen during the summer surge when average daily case counts reached nearly 70,000.In an effort to speed up the vaccination campaign, many states are expanding eligibility guidelines for who qualifies to get a shot. Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Wednesday morning that the initial period of expanded eligibility period may leave some Americans frustrated.”Some states are willing to make a broader population eligible to be vaccinated and tolerate the fact that the first two or three weeks of that are going to be messy,” Gottlieb said. “Once a state opens eligibility wide open, a lot of people are going to complain that they’re going onto the website and can’t get an appointment. It’s going to take a couple weeks to work that excess demand off.”U.S. Covid casesAbout 66,800 daily new coronavirus cases are being reported in the U.S., based on a seven-day average of data from Johns Hopkins University. That figure has been trending upward, raising concerns about a potential “fourth wave” of infections.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsU.S. Covid deathsThe daily death toll has fallen significantly from its winter peak but remains elevated at nearly 1,000 deaths per day, based on a weekly average of Hopkins data. Since the start of the pandemic, more than 550,000 Covid-19 deaths have been reported in the U.S., more than any other country.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsThe vaccine rollout may be a reason for optimism on this front. If the most vulnerable populations of Americans are protected, the death toll may not rise as significantly as it has during prior periods of case count increases.U.S. vaccine shots administeredAs more states expand eligibility rules for who can receive a Covid-19 vaccine — President Joe Biden said Monday that 90% of adults in the U.S. will be eligible for Covid-19 shots by April 19 — the daily pace of vaccinations continues to rise.Following 1.8 million reported vaccine doses administered Tuesday, the seven-day average of shots given in the U.S. reached 2.8 million.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsSome hesitancy around getting the vaccine may be waning. The latest Vaccine Monitor survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation showed a decrease in respondents saying they want to “wait and see” about getting the vaccine, with 17% of respondents selecting that answer in March compared to 39% in December.However, 13% of respondents in March said they would “definitely not” get a vaccine and 7% said they would only get one if required for work, school, or other activities.U.S. share of the population vaccinatedNearly 30% of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, and 16% of the population is fully vaccinated.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsOn Wednesday morning, Pfizer said its Covid-19 vaccine was 100% effective in a study of adolescents aged 12 to 15. Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer, genetic testing start-up Tempus and biotech company Illumina. Gottlieb also serves as co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings′ and Royal Caribbean’s “Healthy Sail Panel.” More

Oil tanks at an oil processing facility of Saudi Aramco, a Saudi Arabian state-owned oil and gas company, at the Abqaiq oil field.Stanislav Krasilnikov | TASS via Getty ImagesThe chief executive of the world’s biggest oil company on Wednesday said he believes the firm will still be able to meet dividend payout expectations after Saudi Arabia’s government announced plans to prioritize investments.Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday said that state-backed oil giant Saudi Aramco and petrochemical firm SABIC would fund the majority of a 5 trillion riyals ($1.3 trillion) private sector investment plan for economic diversification.”We are very excited with the government’s announcement yesterday of the Shareek program,” Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser told CNBC’s Dan Murphy in an exclusive interview.”We support this initiative which is very much aligned with Vision 2030. It promotes GDP growth through new investment and will have a multiplier effect for the Saudi economy.”The government’s 5 trillion riyals private sector investment plan is part of 12 trillion riyals worth of investments planned by 2030.The crown prince said, according to Reuters, that the government had asked the biggest participating firms to cut dividends and redirect the cash to new investments. For those owning shares in Saudi Aramco, he reaffirmed dividend prices would remain stable.”We promised them that and we will keep that promise,” the crown prince said, Reuters reported. The oil giant is 98% owned by the government.When asked how sustainable the company’s dividend would prove to be in the wake of the government’s private sector investment plans, Nasser said that it was a “voluntary” program that had taken private interests into consideration.”The company has, as I said, a strong balance sheet, it is one of the lowest-cost producers in the world and it is very capable to execute mega projects and giga-projects while continuing also to meet the expectations of its shareholders.”Shares of Saudi Aramco, listed on the Saudi stock exchange, traded more than 1.8% higher on Wednesday.Earlier this month, Saudi Aramco reported a 44% drop in full-year 2020 earnings, missing analyst expectations. The company took on additional debt last year to maintain its $75 billion dollar dividend payout and announced a cut to spending in the year ahead.Nasser described the last 12 months as “one of the most challenging years in recent history,” citing lower oil prices and weaker refining and chemicals margins.The coronavirus pandemic sparked a historic collapse in the price of oil last year, as unprecedented public health measures to curb the spread of the disease coincided with restricted mobility worldwide.For Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich economy, the global health crisis and oil market turmoil were setbacks to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plans to diversify away from oil exports and reduce unemployment. More