SAO PAULO (AP) — Two kart drivers who 14 years ago were just children snacking at each other's houses after races will be on a Formula 1 grid for the first time Sunday at the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos.
Audi driver Gabriel Bortoleto, 22, was one the first people to know his friend Rafael Câmara, 21, would take the Haas seat from Esteban Ocon for the race in Sao Paulo. Haas announced the move two days after the Mexico City Grand Prix, in which the Frenchman was replaced by Japan’s Ryo Hirakawa.
It will be the first time since 2016 that Brazil, a country of multiple F1 champions like Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet and Emerson Fittipaldi, will have two drivers on the grid.
Câmara said in a press conference Thursday he doesn't know whether the race in the Brazilian metropolis will be a one-off so he can continue battling for the F2 title — he leads the standings by seven points with two races to go. Haas has already given him a one-year contract for 2027.
“It is something that will be discussed,” Câmara said when asked whether he would return to F2 after Brazil, do both series until the end of the season or just focus on F1. “I just want to make sure to have a great time this weekend.
“I don't think it will be an easy weekend, there will be a lot of things to learn,” the Haas driver added. “I will just focus on the things I can control.”
Asked whether he has given any F1 advice to his friend, Bortoleto was surprised.
“I've only raced here for two years. He is talented, he deserves to be here,” the Audi driver said.
Bortoleto said both being in racing's top series “is a miracle” because of how expensive the sport has gotten in Brazil.
“Hopefully the sport can be more accessible in the future,” he said.
Bortoleto is currently in 14th position in the drivers' championship with 14 points. In the team's championship, his goal for the season is to overtake Haas, which is four points ahead before Brazil.
Hirakawa, who scored points for Haas with his 10th-place finish in Mexico, is unavailable to drive in Brazil this weekend due to a prior commitment with Toyota in the World Endurance Championship season finale next week, an event where he remains in contention for the drivers’ title.
Ocon left the team after reports surfaced of a physical altercation between himself and team principal Ayao Komatsu. The French driver denied any such incident took place.
See AP’s full auto racing coverage here
Audi driver Gabriel Bortoleto of Brazil speaks during a press conference ahead of the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix in Sao Paulo, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Haas driver Rafael Camara of Brazil, left, Audi driver Gabriel Bortoleto of Brazil, center, and Alpine driver Franco Colapinto of Argentina attend a press conference ahead of the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix in Sao Paulo, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay (AP) — Paraguay's Attorney General Emiliano Rolón Fernández ordered three criminal investigations into the Ueno Bank crisis, including allegations involving President Santiago Peña and other current and former government officials, the prosecutor’s office said Thursday.
The investigations will examine authorities’ oversight of the bank, their handling of its failure and the placement of public funds in the lender.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back for updates. AP’s earlier story follows below.
ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay (AP) — Paraguayan President Santiago Peña announced his resignation Thursday after the collapse of a major digital bank tied to his government triggered widespread protests, froze millions of people’s savings and cost him the support of his own party.
The crisis at Ueno Bank turned Peña’s long-ruling Colorado Party against him, a stunning reversal for the former International Monetary Fund economist who had enjoyed the backing of the country's most powerful politicians and was welcomed in Washington just weeks ago as a key ally of the Trump administration.
Minutes after Peña’s announcement, the lower house voted 78-0 to impeach him, sending the charges to the Senate. Congressional leaders were voting on whether to accept his resignation later Thursday, clearing the way for Vice President Pedro Alliana to be sworn in without waiting for a Senate trial.
Opposition senators were still demanding a trial, arguing that allowing Peña to resign would preserve his eligibility to become a senator for life, with legal protections that could prevent his prosecution.
Peña said in a video posted to X that he was stepping down in the interest of “the stability of our country, social peace and the need to preserve our democratic institutions.”
Even Peña’s mentor, Colorado Party leader and former President Horacio Cartes, backed impeachment, saying the party would not side with “the plundering of public and private funds and pensioners’ money.” The United States Treasury sanctioned Cartes in 2023 over bribery allegations that the Trump administration lifted last year.
Peña, who until last year held a stake in a company linked to Ueno, expressed contrition. But he stopped short of accepting responsibility for the turmoil, which has left millions of depositors, retirees and workers scrambling to recoup their frozen savings and unpaid wages.
“I want to apologize to the people if I have failed them at any point,” he said. “It was never my intention to betray the trust they placed in me."
Ueno Bank, which exploded from an obscure finance company to a household name in less than five years, claimed more than 60% of Paraguay’s adults as customers. Many Paraguayans are left asking how a bank linked to the president could grow so rapidly in size and importance despite repeated warnings about its lending practices.
The answer lies in the uncomfortable proximity of Peña’s Colorado Party to the country’s regulators and business elite, a weakness that has endured even as steady economic management and rapid growth recently earned Paraguay coveted investment-grade credit ratings.
“Santiago Peña and the Colorado Party have stolen all our savings,” said Luis Pineda, one of the protesters marching to Congress on Wednesday. “We are fed up with 70 years of plunder.”
Soon after winning its banking license in 2023, Ueno seemed to be everywhere in Paraguay. The digital lender, a rebranded version of a decades-old finance company, lured customers with generous cash-back offers on groceries as it grew to more than 70 locations, sponsored Paraguay's national soccer team and plastered its name on the country's main stadium.
Government money poured into Ueno’s coffers under Peña. He also appointed Carlos Carvallo, president of Financiera Ueno, the predecessor to Ueno Bank, to run the central bank, the agency charged with supervising the digital lender.
As of last month, Ueno reported holding roughly $800 million in public deposits, about a quarter of its total, including money from the state pension and health fund and the operators of Paraguay’s giant hydroelectric dams.
But worries were escalating inside the central bank. In June, its inspectors found a pattern of risky lending to insiders, reported ABC Color, a leading Paraguayan newspaper. Ueno had extended large sums to companies tied to its owners, beyond what the law allows and without enough collateral to cover the debts if they went bad.
As recently as last month, Peña defended Ueno and the central bank’s oversight, dismissing the concerns as a smear campaign that was spooking the public.
But on Monday, it all came crashing down. Regulators investigating Ueno’s loans to companies linked to its owners found poorly documented lending, the central bank said, as well as expenses the bank had wrongly counted as assets.
Once the books were corrected, Ueno’s capital, the cushion banks must keep to absorb losses, fell to less than half the legal minimum. The central bank announced the lender’s seizure Tuesday, beginning a process to transfer deposits and recoverable assets to other banks before liquidating what remained.
Ueno’s app, cards and transfers went dark and its branches locked their doors, leaving desperate depositors lined up outside. On Wednesday, a rush to open new accounts elsewhere crashed other banks’ mobile apps, fueling public panic.
Officials have appealed for calm. Under a law rushed through Congress on Wednesday, a state guarantee fund must repay stranded depositors within five business days, starting Thursday with small accounts of up to about $1,600. The fund insures up to about $36,000 per customer, which the central bank says will cover the full balances of an estimated 97% of clients.
On Thursday, a judge ordered six Ueno executives, including founder Miguel Vázquez and bank President Juan Manuel Gustale, jailed pending trial and two others placed under house arrest. Prosecutors have charged 27 bank officials and associates with breach of trust and attempted fraud.
Gustale’s lawyer pushed back on the charges, arguing that senior executives had relied on staff for lending decisions. “The president or board is not responsible for deciding who receives a particular loan,” José Fernández Zacur told local media.
Still in their Ueno uniforms, young employees burned their credit cards and cursed Peña outside the Labor Ministry on Thursday, demanding severance and unpaid wages. Peña’s resignation did little to calm them.
“Let the impeachment process take place and let him lose his immunity,” said Adolfo Villalba, one of the protesters on Thursday.
The Labor Ministry estimates the collapse has affected about 7,000 direct and indirect jobs at the bank and its related businesses.
Many saw Ueno’s collapse as a case study in official corruption. Only Venezuela ranks worse in South America on Transparency International’s latest index of perceived corruption.
“This is yet another assault on honest, hard-working citizens, people whose small savings are the fruit of years of labor,” said Belarmino Balbuena, one of thousands who marched on Congress in the capital, Asunción, on Wednesday.
Jorge Sáenz contributed to this story. DeBre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
People protest in front of police against the government and Ueno Bank, which Paraguay's central bank seized amid a solvency crisis, in Asuncion, Paraguay, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
Deputy Carlos Pereira speaks during a discussion on the impeachment of President Santiago Peña in Paraguay's lower house of Congress, as banners reading "Impeachment Now" are displayed on opposition lawmakers' desks in Asuncion, Paraguay, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
FILE - Paraguay President Santiago Peña speaks to the media at United Nations headquarters, Sept. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
People protest in front of police against the government and Ueno Bank, which Paraguay's central bank seized amid a solvency crisis, in Asuncion, Paraguay, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
A demonstrator holds a mock U.S. dollar bill depicting Paraguayan President Santiago Peña during a protest against the government and Ueno Bank, which Paraguay's central bank seized amid a solvency crisis, in Asuncion, Paraguay, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
People protest against the government and Ueno bank, which Paraguay's central bank has seized amid a solvency crisis in Asuncion, Paraguay, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
People protest against the government and Ueno bank, which Paraguay's central bank has seized amid a solvency crisis in Asuncion, Paraguay, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
Executives of Ueno Bank, taken over by Paraguay's central bank amid a solvency crisis, arrive in custody at the anti-corruption prosecutor's office in Asuncion, Paraguay, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
People protest against the government and Ueno bank, which Paraguay's central bank has seized amid a solvency crisis, in Asuncion, Paraguay, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
Executives of Ueno Bank, taken over by Paraguay's central bank amid a solvency crisis, arrive in custody at the anti-corruption prosecutor's office in Asuncion, Paraguay, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026 (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
