1974 Argentine Grand Prix

  1974 Argentine Grand Prix

Race details
Race 1 of 15 in the 1974 Formula One season
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 mi)
Distance	53 laps, 316.315 km (196.549 mi)
Weather	Hot and sunny
Pole position
Driver	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford
Time	1:50.78
Fastest lap
Driver	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari
Time	1:52.10 on lap 38[1]
Podium
First	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford
Second	Niki Lauda	Ferrari
Third	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari

The 1974 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held in Buenos Aires on 13 January 1974. It was the first round of the 1974 Formula One season. 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]

Report

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 to start his own team, 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

Peterson secured pole position, for John Player Team Lotus, averaging a speed of 120.542mph. 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 Lotus off Fittipaldi and the Shadow of Revson, while James Hunt impressed in his Harvey Postlethwaite modified Hesketh March by taking fifth place on the gird. ^[2]

Race

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 Resvon spun, then Revson’s team-mate, Jarier ran into him. The cars of Mezario 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 Fittipladi 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 117.405mph, 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

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

Notes

• The previous 2 Grands Prix in Argentina were held at Buenos Aires, but on the "No.9" configuration. From this year to 1981, the Argentine Grand Prix was held on the longer and faster "No.15" configuration.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Denny Hulme 9 2 Niki Lauda 6 3 Clay Regazzoni 4 4 Mike Hailwood 3 5 Jean-Pierre Beltoise 2

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 McLaren-Ford 9 2 Ferrari 6 3 BRM 2 4 Tyrrell-Ford 1

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

References