The day Nacional and Master fell thirty years apart
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Two bank collapses linked to Brazilian racing drivers are thirty years apart. Caps, sponsorships and a date on the calendar connect their stories.
On November 18, 2025, Brazil’s Central Bank ordered Banco Master S/A into liquidation. Thirty years earlier, on the same date, the bank took control of Banco Nacional and removed its former executives. Two banking decisions, three decades apart. Between them runs a connection to motorsport: a blue cap associated with Ayrton Senna and a brand that backed Felipe Drugovich.
The blue cap and a champion’s backer
Early in Senna’s Formula One career, Banco Nacional placed its bet on the Brazilian driver. Its blue cap stayed with him through his third world championship. The partnership left a lasting image: a bank’s symbol alongside a driver’s rise to the top of the sport.
Years later, another bank partnered with a Brazilian champion. Felipe Drugovich won the 2022 Formula Two title, and in May 2023 Banco Master became a partner of Aston Martin. Its logo appeared on the rear wing of the AMR23 at the Miami Grand Prix. The deal, worth about 26 million reais, included Drugovich’s testing program.
But the driver’s path never led to a Formula One Grand Prix start. From 2023 to 2025, he served as Aston Martin’s reserve and test driver. Without a full-time seat, he moved to Formula E. After two races with Mahindra in Berlin, he signed with Andretti for a full season: 2025–26.
One date, two different measures
The calendar coincidence conceals an important difference. On November 18, 1995, Brazil’s Central Bank placed Banco Nacional under a Special Temporary Administration Regime, known as RAET. The measure removed the bank’s former executives. It was not a liquidation: the bank would not be liquidated until November 13, 1996. At the time, its operations and customers were transferred to Unibanco, while the remaining assets stayed under special administration.
The Central Bank’s review found 652 loan accounts improperly recorded as normal assets, when they should have been recognized as losses. In Banco Master’s case, the decision on November 18, 2025, was different: the Central Bank ordered the institution’s liquidation.
The Federal Police investigation alleged that Master had sold the Bank of Brasília credit portfolios that were unsupported by real assets and overvalued. Daniel Vorcaro denied to the Federal Police that the transactions with BRB had caused the 12 billion reais in losses cited in the investigation. He has not been tried.
The cost of a collapse
The Credit Guarantee Fund, or FGC, had been created on November 16, 1995, just two days before Banco Nacional entered RAET. In January 2026, after Master’s liquidation, the FGC was called on to reimburse eligible depositors and investors, within legal limits. By early February, payments had reached 36 billion reais, the largest call in the fund’s history.
The contrast comes down to two images. Senna’s blue cap followed a three-time champion to the top. Master’s logo sat on the rear wing of the team where Drugovich worked as a reserve and test driver, without ever starting a Formula One race. The same date brought together a lasting sporting memory and the collapse of two banks, each facing a different measure and consequences that stretched far beyond that day.
