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	Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez Buenos Aires, Argentina
Course	Permanent racing facility 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
Podium
First	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford
Second	Niki Lauda	Ferrari
Third	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari

The 1974 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One race held in Buenos Aires on January 13, 1974.

Start-of-season preliminaries

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. Mike Hailwood's place at Surtees was taken by Jochen Mass, whilst Peter Revson had moved from McLaren to Shadow.

Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni remained teammates but would be driving for Ferrari instead of BRM who had replaced them with Henri Pescarolo and François Migault. With the death of François Cevert and the retirement of Jackie Stewart, Tyrrell had an entirely new lineup in Jody Scheckter and Patrick Depailler.

Race summary

For the first time, Formula One's visit to the Buenos Aires circuit saw them use the long and fast No.15 configuration. Peterson took pole from Regazzoni but it was Hunt who led from the start before spinning on the next lap. Revson and Jean-Pierre Jarier collided and Reutemann took the lead on lap 3. Peterson had tyre problems whilst Fittipaldi knocked off his ignition,damaging the gears. Hulme had climbed to 2nd place and on lap 52 he took the lead when Reutemann ran out of fuel. The distraught Argentine was just a lap short of the flag and a home victory. It would be Hulme's last Grand Prix win, and Ferrari claimed 2nd and 3rd to round off the podium.

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

Notes

• Pole position: Ronnie Peterson - 1:50.78^[2]
• Fastest lap: Clay Regazzoni - 1:52.10 on lap 38^[1]
• The previous 2 Grands Prix in Argentina were held at Oscar Galvez, 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.

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

Unless otherwise indicated, all race results are taken from "The Official Formula 1 website". http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1974/472/. Retrieved 2007-06-15.