'Tired' Raikkonen's exit gave Alfa Romeo boost

Kimi Raikkonen's retirement only partly explains the big step forward made by Alfa Romeo in 2022.

One factor may be the arrival, fresh from five years alongside Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, of the Swiss-based team's new Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas.

"We're definitely not falling back," Bottas said when asked about Alfa Romeo's progress. "And yeah, I'm really, really enjoying the ride."

However, Bottas played down the effect of the new driver simulator at Hinwil, even though he admits the investments are paying off.

"The first time I tried the simulator, I could feel that there was quite a difference to the one at Mercedes because Mercedes started a long, long time ago," he . . .