1975 Argentine Grand Prix

The 1975 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Buenos Aires on 12 January 1975. It was race 1 of 14 in both the 1975 World Championship of Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the twelfth Argentine Grand Prix and only the second to be held on the lengthened six kilometre version of the race track that runs out towards Curvon Salotto around the lake which lies to the north-east of the circuit.

1975 Argentine Grand Prix
Race details
Date January 12, 1975
Official name XII Gran Premio de la Republica Argentina
Location Autódromo 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
Shadow-Ford
Time 1:49.21[1]
Fastest lap
Driver James Hunt Hesketh-Ford
Time 1:50.91[2] on lap 34
Podium
First
McLaren-Ford
Second
Hesketh-Ford
Third
Brabham-Ford

The race was won for the second time by Brazilian driver Emerson Fittipaldi driving a McLaren M23. He took a six-second victory over James Hunt in his Hesketh 308. Carlos Reutemann scored his best result to that time on his home race finishing third in his Brabham BT44B.

Race summary

The close season had been fairly quiet – Jochen Mass had replaced Denny Hulme at McLaren, John Watson had joined Surtees and Mike Wilds, Rolf Stommelen and Jacques Laffite were confirmed at BRM, Hill and Williams respectively.

March had announced their retirement, but then in a dramatic U-turn confirmed their entry for 1975 with Vittorio Brambilla and Lella Lombardi.

There were contractual wrangles with Ronnie Peterson, reportedly discontent at Lotus and it was uncertain up until the start of practice whether he would be driving for them or Shadow.

Jean-Pierre Jarier proved the Shadow's effectiveness, putting in the fastest ever lap of the circuit, averaging 122 mph to gain his first pole from Carlos Pace and Carlos Reutemann.

However it was all in vain. On the warm-up lap, his crown-wheel-and-pinion stripped, leaving him a non-starter. Local hero Reutemann gratefully accepted the lead from Pace. James Hunt driving the newest Hesketh with new rubber suspension climbed from the 6th row up to third place, duelling with Niki Lauda. Jochen Mass and Jody Scheckter tangled. Meanwhile, John Watson was stranded with a loose fuel-pipe and was disqualified after attempting trackside repairs.

Wilson Fittipaldi crashed on lap 13, his car catching fire and requiring the fire engine to be deployed. By now, Hunt had passed Lauda and was catching the two Brabhams. Pace took the lead on lap 15, but spun on the very next lap. Reutemann having retaken the lead, was understeering badly and on lap 25 was passed by Hunt. There was a ferocious battle with Emerson Fittipaldi for the lead.

Classification
PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 1 Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren-Ford 53 1:39:26.29 5 9
2 24 James Hunt Hesketh-Ford 53 + 5.91 6 6
3 7 Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 53 + 17.06 3 4
4 11 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 53 + 35.79 7 3
5 4 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell-Ford 53 + 54.25 8 2
6 12 Niki Lauda Ferrari 53 + 1:19.65 4 1
7 28 Mark Donohue Penske-Ford 52 + 1 Lap 16  
8 6 Jacky Ickx Lotus-Ford 52 + 1 Lap 18  
9 9 Vittorio Brambilla March-Ford 52 + 1 Lap 12  
10 22 Graham Hill Lola-Ford 52 + 1 Lap 21  
11 3 Jody Scheckter Tyrrell-Ford 52 + 1 Lap 9  
12 16 Tom Pryce Shadow-Ford 51 Transmission 14  
13 23 Rolf Stommelen Lola-Ford 51 + 2 Laps 19  
14 2 Jochen Mass McLaren-Ford 50 + 3 Laps 13  
Ret 8 Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford 46 Engine 2  
NC 20 Arturo Merzario Williams-Ford 44 Not Classified 20  
Ret 27 Mario Andretti Parnelli-Ford 27 Transmission 10  
Ret 14 Mike Wilds BRM 24 Engine 22  
Ret 5 Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 15 Engine 11  
Ret 21 Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford 15 Gearbox 17  
Ret 30 Wilson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 12 Accident 23  
DSQ 18 John Watson Surtees-Ford 6 Disqualified 15  
DNS 17 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 0 Transmission 1  
Source:[3]

Lap leaders

Laps led:[4]

  • Carlos Reutemann (1–25)
  • James Hunt (26–34)
  • Emerson Fittipaldi (35–53)

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

References
  1. Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 66. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  2. Lang, Mike (1983). Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 68. ISBN 0-85429-380-9.
  3. "1975 Argentine Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  4. "Argentinian Grand Prix 1975". motorsport-stats.com. Archived from the original on 2007-01-12. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
  5. "Argentina 1975 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
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1974 United States Grand Prix		 FIA Formula One World Championship
1975 season		 Next race:
1975 Brazilian Grand Prix
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1977 Argentine Grand Prix
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