Kimi Raikkonen beat Lewis Hamilton to the world championship back in 2007 and the Finn believes that, despite the Mercedes driver's recent dominance, he can still be beaten. Hamilton is currently leading the drivers' standings ahead of nearest rival Max Verstappen, yet has not had a completely flawless season. The Briton slipped off the track at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, and also made an error at the restart in Portugal which allowed Verstappen to get ahead of him. Perhaps this is evidence of Raikkonen's point that everybody makes mistakes, and at some stage somebody will get the better of Hamilton. "Hamilton has been beaten before and I'm sure it will happen again,' Raikkonen told Marca when asked how Hamilton can be beaten. "I'm sure that if you do everything well, you'll get your chance because everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes you get away with it, other times not." Raikkonen admits that F1 cars have changed a lot since his own championship fight with Hamilton, and this adds to the difficulty in battling against him. "All cars are more reliable now than in previous years," the Alfa Romeo driver said. "You have to do the best you can with the car you have and sometimes you need a bit of luck. As long as you stay in the fight, during a race anything can happen." However, Raikkonen does not necessarily believe that modern Formula 1 cars are more challenging to drive than in previous years. "I don't think there's such a big difference, what really matters is how good the car is. If you have the best car on the grid it's easier to drive and adapt, that's the way it has always been." Raikkonen has not been able to compete at the front since joining Alfa Romeo in 2019, but has still put in some impressive performances. The Finn continues to search for his first point of the 2021 season though, having had a points finish in Imola taken from him after being handed a 30-second time penalty by the stewards.
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