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Ferrari gives employees record $5,600 bonus on strong year

Ferrari has got to be a great place to work. In fact, it's named as one of the best places to work in Europe year after year. Add to that the pride of making some of the coolest cars in the business, running one of the winningest teams in all of motorsports (even if the Scuderia isn't doing so well thus far this season) and all around standing for the best Italy has to offer, and you've got the makings of a dream job. And it just got a bit sweeter.
That's because Ferrari has just awarded each and every one of its employees a bonus of 4,096 euros - the most the company has ever paid. That's equivalent to over $5,600 at today's exchange rates, and represents a whopping 20 percent of the annual salary for a recently hired young employee. Following two advances of 1,000 euros each, that means employees will find an extra 2,096 euros in their pay checks this month, which may not be enough to buy a new California T or 458 Speciale, but should finance a nice shopping spree of t-shirts and paperweights at the Ferrari Store or a family vacation to Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi.
The bonuses are part of a deal signed with the union in 2012, but are enabled by record profits reported by the company over the last couple of years. After 2012 emerged as Ferrari's most profitable fiscal year, it moved to reduce production, thereby increasing the value of each new car it sells to drive profits up even higher. Nice work, in short, if you can get it.

Race Recap: 2014 Malaysian F1 Grand Prix [spoilers]

The Malaysian Grand Prix is always one of the jokers on the Formula One calendar: you know it's going to rain during the weekend, but you don't know when. This year it began during qualifying, the dammed up clouds over the Sepang track dumping their reservoirs just before Q1 and causing a 50-minute delay.
The conditions helped Infiniti Red Bull Racing close the gap on Mercedes AMG Petronas and split the Silver Arrows cars, Sebastian Vettel lining up in second on the grid behind pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton, ahead of Nico Rosberg. Fernando Alonso recovered from a suspension-damaging incident with Toro Rosso driver Daniil Kyvat to take fourth, followed by the second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo in fifth, then the off-form Kimi Räikkönen in sixth in the second Ferrari, Nico Hülkenberg in the Force India, star rookie Kevin Magnussen in the first McLaren ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne in the Toro Rosso, and Jenson Button in the second McLaren finishing up the top ten.
After that, though, the clouds decided they were done with F1. Save a few drop at the final corners during the race, the track stayed completely dry. And except for the beginning and the end, for the most part, so was the race.

Race Recap: 2014 Austrian Grand Prix is old-school front row, new-school racing

The last time Formula One raced in Spielberg, Austria the track was called the A1 Ring, Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher were the pilots for Williams, the field contained other not-so-venerable names like Ralph Firman and Justin Wilson and V10 engines were bolted to the bulkheads - the only Mercedes units being in the backs of the two McLarens, one of which was driven by Kimi Räikkönen, who finished second behind Michael Schumacher.
The return to an old-school Formula One track - now called the Red Bull Ring - after 11 years away put an old-school team on the front row, Felipe Massa in a Williams getting his first pole position since 2008, followed by teammate Valtteri Bottas. Behind them came Nico Rosberg in the first Mercedes AMG Petronas, Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari, Daniel Ricciardo for Infiniti Red Bull Racing, Kevin Magnussen for McLaren, Danil Kvyat in his Toro Rosso, Räikkönen in the second Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton in the second Mercedes way back in ninth - he'd spun on his final timed lap after having his previous effort disqualified for going wide at Turn 8 - Nico Hülkenberg in the Force India in tenth after opting not to set a time at all in Q3.
It's a shame the well of nostalgia wasn't deep enough to give us some proper old-school racing.