1974 Argentine Grand Prix

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.

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 mi)
Distance 53 laps, 316.315 km (196.549 mi)
Weather Hot and sunny
Pole position
Driver
Lotus-Ford
Time 1:50.78
Fastest lap
Driver Clay Regazzoni Ferrari
Time 1:52.10 on lap 38[1]
Podium
First
McLaren-Ford
Second
Ferrari
Third
Ferrari

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 the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the last for a New Zealander driver.

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 120.542 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

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 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 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
PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
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:[1][2][4][5][6][7]

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
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
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References
  1. Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 19. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  2. "Argentine GP, 1974 Race Report - GP Encyclopedia - F1 History on Grandprix.com". Grandprix.com. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  3. "GP Argentina 1974 - Entry List". Racing Sports Cars. 1974-01-13. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  4. "GP Argentina". Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved 2016-01-09.
  5. "1974 Grand Prix of Argentina". Racing-Reference.info. 1974-01-13. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  6. "1974 Argentine Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  7. "Results 1974 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Argentina". F1 Fansite. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  8. "Argentina 1974 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
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