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Fiat gives outgoing Ferrari chairman $35M severance package

Luca di Montezemolo may not have wanted to leave Ferrari this way, but don't feel too bad for the departing chairman, because he'll be hitting the ground with a golden parachute so big that he'll never have to work again.
According to the latest reports, Fiat will pay Montezemolo 26.95 million euros (nearly $35 million) in severance pay. A little more than half of that will be paid in a lump sum of 13.71 million euros ($17.7M, equivalent to five times his annual salary) on January 31, 2015, with the rest to be paid within the next 20 years.
The payment is contingent on Montezemolo not going to work for a competitor, so don't expect to see him replacing Stephan Winkelmann at Lamborghini or Wolfgang Dürheimer at Bugatti any time soon. At least not until March 2017. Of course with that much cash on hand, the 67-year-old marquis need never work again, but considering how busy he's used to keeping himself, we'd be surprised if he didn't pop up again somewhere.

Race Recap: Belgian Grand Prix is new skirmishes, same war [spoilers]

It's been four weeks since we last saw a Formula One race, when Lewis Hamilton improbably put his Mercedes-AMG Petronas in P1 in Hungary. Even more improbably, he held onto the first spot at the finish of the race, ahead of Kimi Räikkönen in the Lotus and Sebastian Vettel in the Infiniti Red Bull.
Resuming the season at Belgium's Spa-Francorchamps circuit this weekend, Hamilton picked up his recent - and just as improbable - pole-setting form by putting the Mercedes in P1 for the fourth time in a row. The effort came during a qualifying session visited by intermittent rains and dry spells, his 54th trip to the front of the pack, tying Niki Lauda.
But neither the fireworks and surprises, the mid-field full of backmarkers, nor the tire strategies and timing choices changed the mission for the drivers in with a chance at the title: finish in front of Vettel.

Ferrari 458 Scuderia to be unveiled in Frankfurt?

We're heavy on the speculative side with this, but Auto Express is saying that "Rumours of Ferrari 458 Scuderia emerge, with possible debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show." To be clear, that's the possible debut of a car that is still only a rumor, and we're not sure it will be called "Scuderia," either - remember, the track-day 360 was the Challenge Stradale. Admittedly, the rumor of its existence is strong and there is plenty of precedent: Ferrari has introduced some model or variant of its mid-engined V8 sports car at the last three Frankfurt Motor Shows.
Car and Driver went into a great deal of indepth speculation about the coming, track-focused 458 in a piece back in May, and also predicted it would be shown first in Frankfurt. According to C/D we can expect "roughly 600" horsepower and 9,300-rpm redline - up 300 rpm from standard - a faster shifting seven-speed gearbox, a dry weight under 2,900 pounds thanks to "exotic compound materials" and a "slightly stripped interior," less exhaust silencing, uprated carbon-ceramic brakes and active aerodynamics on the rear diffuser.
As far as rumors go this one sounds thoroughly lovely. We hope to see it in made metal in Frankfurt in two months, you can enjoy a detailed gallery of the 563-horsepower Ferrari 458 Challenge above for now.