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. This race was also the 8th and last victory of Hulme's Formula One career and, , the last for a New Zealand 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Merzario and Watson were also damaged in the melee, as Scheckter took to the grass in avoidance.
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.
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.
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.
Classification Qualifying Pos. Driver Constructor Time/Gap 1 Ronnie Peterson Lotus–Ford 1:50.78 2 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari +0.18 3 Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren–Ford +0.28 4 Peter Revson Shadow–Ford +0.52 5 James Hunt March–Ford +0.74 6 Carlos Reutemann Brabham–Ford +0.77 7 Jacky Ickx Lotus–Ford +0.92 8 Niki Lauda Ferrari +1.03 9 Mike Hailwood McLaren–Ford +1.08 10 Denny Hulme McLaren–Ford +1.28 11 Carlos Pace Surtees–Ford +1.42 12 Jody Scheckter Tyrrell–Ford +1.69 13 Arturo Merzario FWRC–Ford +2.36 14 Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM +2.40 15 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell–Ford +2.49 16 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow–Ford +2.88 17 Graham Hill Lola–Ford +3.12 18 Jochen Mass Surtees–Ford +3.12 19 Howden Ganley March–Ford +3.43 20 John Watson Brabham–Ford +3.61 21 Henri Pescarolo BRM +3.89 22 Richard Robarts Brabham–Ford +3.95 23 Hans-Joachim Stuck March–Ford +4.41 24 François Migault BRM +4.65 25 Guy Edwards Lola–Ford +5.65 26 Rikky von Opel Ensign–Ford +7.08 Source:
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 6 Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 53 1:41:02.01 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 26 Graham Hill Lola-Ford 45 Engine 17 2 Jacky Ickx Lotus-Ford 36 Clutch 7 8 Richard Robarts Brabham-Ford 36 Gearbox 22 9 Hans Joachim Stuck March-Ford 31 Clutch 23 37 François Migault BRM 31 Water leak 24 3 Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 25 Engine 12 18 Carlos Pace Surtees-Ford 21 Suspension 11 20 Arturo Merzario Iso-Marlboro-Ford 19 Overheating 13 24 James Hunt March-Ford 11 Overheating 5 19 Jochen Mass Surtees-Ford 10 Engine 18 16 Peter Revson Shadow-Ford 1 Accident 4 17 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 0 Accident 16 22 Rikky von Opel Ensign-Ford Handling 26
Notes
This was the Formula One World Championship debut for British drivers Richard Robarts and Guy Edwards, and German driver Hans-Joachim Stuck. This was the 61st pole position for a Ford-powered car, breaking the previous record set by Ferrari at the 1972 Italian Grand Prix. This was the 3rd win of an Argentine Grand Prix by a Ford-powered car, breaking the previous record set by Maserati at the 1957 Argentine Grand Prix.
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 2Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 McLaren-Ford 9 2 Ferrari 6 3 BRM 2 4 Tyrrell-Ford 1Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References