1974 Argentine Grand Prix

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1974 Argentine Grand Prix
Race details
Date January 13, 1974
Official name XI Gran Premio de la Republica Argentina
Location Autodromo Municipal Ciudad de Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.968 km (3.708 miles)
Distance 53 laps, 316.315 km (196.549 miles)
Weather Hot and sunny
Pole position
Driver Lotus-Ford
Time 1:50.78
Fastest lap
Driver Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ferrari
Time 1:52.10 on lap 38[1]
Podium
First McLaren-Ford
Second Ferrari
Third Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 1974 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held in Buenos Aires on 13 January 1974. It was race 1 of 15 in both the 1974 World Championship of Drivers and the 1974 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 53-lap race was won by McLaren driver Denny Hulme after he started from tenth position. Niki Lauda finished second for the Ferrari team and his teammate Clay Regazzoni came in third.

For the first time, Formula One's visit to the Buenos Aires circuit saw them use the long and fast No.15 configuration, rather than the previously-used No.9 layout.[2] This race was also the 8th and last victory of Hulme's Formula One career and, as of 2024, the last for a New Zealand driver.

Report[edit]

It had been one of the most frantic close seasons ever with only Ronnie Peterson, Denny Hulme, Carlos Reutemann and James Hunt remaining with their teams. Emerson Fittipaldi moved from Lotus to McLaren to be replaced by Jacky Ickx. McLaren now had sponsorship from Marlboro and Texaco. The team also entered a third car in their old colours of Yardley for Mike Hailwood. Hailwood's place at Surtees was taken by Jochen Mass where he partnered Carlos Pace, whilst Peter Revson had moved from McLaren to Shadow, where he was joined by Jean-Pierre Jarier.[2][3]

Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni remained teammates but would be driving for Ferrari instead of BRM, who now with Motul sponsorship had three cars driven by Frenchmen Jean-Pierre Beltoise, Henri Pescarolo and François Migault. With the death of François Cevert and the retirement of Jackie Stewart, Tyrrell had an entirely new line-up in Jody Scheckter and Patrick Depailler.[2][3]

Wilson Fittipaldi left Formula One temporarily to start his own team (returning with it in 1975), so his place along Reutemann at Brabham was taken by Richard Robarts. A privateer Brabham was run by John Goode Racing for John Watson under the Hexagon of Highgate banner. Howden Ganley and Hans Stuck were picked up by March Engineering.[2][3]

Marlboro continued to back Frank Williams and his Iso-Marlboro-Ford FW for former Ferrari driver, Arturo Merzario. While Hesketh Racing were building their own car back in England, they entered James Hunt in a year-old March, while Graham Hill had Lola Cars build two cars for himself and Guy Edwards. Rikky von Opel completed the field, once again driving for Team Ensign.[2][3]

Qualifying[edit]

Peterson secured pole position, for John Player Team Lotus, averaging a speed of 120.542 mph. However, Scuderia Ferrari showed how much progress they had made during the winter, under the new management, led by Luca di Montezemolo, with Regazzoni qualifying alongside the Swede on the front row. The second row featured the McLaren of Fittipaldi and the Shadow of Revson, while James Hunt impressed in his Harvey Postlethwaite modified Hesketh March by taking fifth place on the grid.[2]

Race[edit]

Peterson took an early lead from the fast starting Hunt, while Regazzoni, Revson and Hailwood all arrived at the first corner together and collided. Regazzoni and Revson spun, then Revson’s team-mate, Jarier ran into him. The cars of Merzario and Watson were also damaged in the melee, as Scheckter took to the grass in avoidance.[2]

After Hunt spun later on the opening lap, Reutemann moved into second, with Fittipaldi, Hailwood, Ickx and Hulme completing the top six. By lap three, Reutemann took the lead, while Fittipaldi visited the pits to have a plug lead reattached. This promoted Hailwood to third. By this stage, Ickx had dropped behind Hulme, but soon both were past the Yardley McLaren. Peterson began to fade due to brake trouble and was overtaken by Hulme and Ickx. By now Ickx was beginning to come under pressure from the Ferrari of Niki Lauda.[2]

On lap 27, the second Lotus was now in trouble, as Ickx pitted with a puncture. This left Lauda in a solid third place. The local hero, Reutemann seem to have the race under control when his Cosworth powered Brabham BT44 began to misfire and Hulme rapidly closed him down. On the penultimate lap, Hulme was past, taking the lead. As for Reutemann, his eventually ground to a halt on the last lap, running out of fuel, and was classified seventh overall. As a result, the Ferraris of Lauda and Regazzoni inherited a two-three at the finish.[2][4]

Hulme won in a time of 1hr 41:02.010mins., averaging a speed of 117.405 mph, and was 9.27 seconds ahead of Lauda. Regazzoni was a further 11.14 seconds behind. Only other drivers to complete the full race distance were Hailwood, Beltoise and Depailler.[5]

Classification[edit]

Qualifying[edit]

Pos. Driver Constructor Time/Gap
1 Sweden Ronnie Peterson LotusFord 1:50.78
2 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ferrari +0.18
3 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi McLarenFord +0.28
4 United States Peter Revson ShadowFord +0.52
5 United Kingdom James Hunt MarchFord +0.74
6 Argentina Carlos Reutemann BrabhamFord +0.77
7 Belgium Jacky Ickx LotusFord +0.92
8 Austria Niki Lauda Ferrari +1.03
9 United Kingdom Mike Hailwood McLarenFord +1.08
10 New Zealand Denny Hulme McLarenFord +1.28
11 Brazil Carlos Pace SurteesFord +1.42
12 South Africa Jody Scheckter TyrrellFord +1.69
13 Italy Arturo Merzario FWRCFord +2.36
14 France Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM +2.40
15 France Patrick Depailler TyrrellFord +2.49
16 France Jean-Pierre Jarier ShadowFord +2.88
17 United Kingdom Graham Hill LolaFord +3.12
18 West Germany Jochen Mass SurteesFord +3.12
19 New Zealand Howden Ganley MarchFord +3.43
20 United Kingdom John Watson BrabhamFord +3.61
21 France Henri Pescarolo BRM +3.89
22 United Kingdom Richard Robarts BrabhamFord +3.95
23 West Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck MarchFord +4.41
24 France François Migault BRM +4.65
25 United Kingdom Guy Edwards LolaFord +5.65
26 Liechtenstein Frederick von Opel EnsignFord +7.08
Source:[6]

Race[edit]

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 6 New Zealand Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 53 1:41:02.01[1] 10 9
2 12 Austria Niki Lauda Ferrari 53 + 9.27 8 6
3 11 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 53 + 20.41 2 4
4 33 United Kingdom Mike Hailwood McLaren-Ford 53 + 31.79 9 3
5 14 France Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM 53 + 51.84 14 2
6 4 France Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 53 + 1:52.48 15 1
7 7 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 52 Out of fuel 6  
8 10 New Zealand Howden Ganley March-Ford 52 Out of fuel 19  
9 15 France Henri Pescarolo BRM 52 + 1 Lap 21  
10 5 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 52 + 1 Lap 3  
11 27 United Kingdom Guy Edwards Lola-Ford 51 + 2 Laps 25  
12 28 United Kingdom John Watson Brabham-Ford 49 + 4 Laps 20  
13 1 Sweden Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 48 + 5 Laps 1  
Ret 26 United Kingdom Graham Hill Lola-Ford 45 Engine 17  
Ret 2 Belgium Jacky Ickx Lotus-Ford 36 Clutch 7  
Ret 8 United Kingdom Richard Robarts Brabham-Ford 36 Gearbox 22  
Ret 9 Germany Hans Joachim Stuck March-Ford 31 Clutch 23  
Ret 37 France François Migault BRM 31 Water leak 24  
Ret 3 South Africa Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 25 Engine 12  
Ret 18 Brazil Carlos Pace Surtees-Ford 21 Suspension 11  
Ret 20 Italy Arturo Merzario Iso-Marlboro-Ford 19 Overheating 13  
Ret 24 United Kingdom James Hunt March-Ford 11 Overheating 5  
Ret 19 Germany Jochen Mass Surtees-Ford 10 Engine 18  
Ret 16 United States Peter Revson Shadow-Ford 1 Accident 4  
Ret 17 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 0 Accident 16  
DNS 22 Liechtenstein Rikky von Opel Ensign-Ford Handling 26  

Championship standings after the race[edit]

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 19. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Argentine GP, 1974 Race Report - GP Encyclopedia - F1 History on Grandprix.com". Grandprix.com. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  3. ^ a b c d "GP Argentina 1974 - Entry List". Racing Sports Cars. 1974-01-13. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  4. ^ a b "GP Argentina". Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved 2016-01-09.
  5. ^ a b "1974 Grand Prix of Argentina". Racing-Reference.info. 1974-01-13. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  6. ^ "Formula One 1974 Argentine Grand Prix Classification | Motorsport Stats".
  7. ^ "1974 Argentine Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  8. ^ "Results 1974 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Argentina". F1 Fansite. 13 January 1974. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  9. ^ a b "Argentina 1974 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 6 March 2019.


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1973 United States Grand Prix
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1975 Argentine Grand Prix