SINGAPORE: World champion Lewis Hamilton believes disgraced Nelson Piquet Jr could return to Formula One despite his part in the Singapore race-fix scandal.

On the orders of Renault, the Brazilian deliberately crashed his car here during the inaugural night race last year, opening the door for team-mate Fernando Alonso to win.

The scandal led to the downfall of team principal Flavio Briatore and chief engineer Pat Symonds but as the "whistleblower," Piquet, who was sacked by Renault in July, was given immunity.