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.
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 of his own construction 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 Qualifying Pos. Driver Constructor Time/Gap 1 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow–Ford 1:49.21 2 Carlos Pace Brabham–Ford +0.43 3 Carlos Reutemann Brabham–Ford +0.59 4 Niki Lauda Ferrari +0.75 5 Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren–Ford +0.81 6 James Hunt Hesketh–Ford +1.05 7 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari +1.50 8 Patrick Depailler Tyrrell–Ford +1.59 9 Jody Scheckter Tyrrell–Ford +1.61 10 Mario Andretti Parnelli–Ford +1.85 11 Ronnie Peterson Lotus–Ford +2.23 12 Vittorio Brambilla March–Ford +2.56 13 Jochen Mass McLaren–Ford +2.61 14 Tom Pryce Shadow–Ford +2.71 15 John Watson Surtees–Ford +2.92 16 Mark Donohue Penske–Ford +3.15 17 Jacques Laffite Williams–Ford +3.67 18 Jacky Ickx Lotus–Ford +3.69 19 Rolf Stommelen Lola–Ford +3.91 20 Arturo Merzario Williams–Ford +4.22 21 Graham Hill Lola–Ford +4.79 22 Mike Wilds BRM +5.27 23 Wilson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi–Ford +11.01 Source:
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 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 8 Carlos Pace Brabham-Ford 46 Engine 2 20 Arturo Merzario Williams-Ford 44 + 9 laps 20 27 Mario Andretti Parnelli-Ford 27 Transmission 10 14 Mike Wilds BRM 24 Engine 22 5 Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 15 Engine 11 21 Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford 15 Gearbox 17 30 Wilson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi-Ford 12 Accident 23 18 John Watson Surtees-Ford 6 Disqualified 15 17 Jean-Pierre Jarier Shadow-Ford 0 Transmission 1 29 Nestor García-Veiga Berta-Ford Withdrew Jean-Pierre Jarier did not start of race. His place on the grid was left vacant. Nestor García-Veiga withdrew due to a crash in pre-race testing. His place on the grid was left vacant.
Notes
Milestone This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Argentinian driver Nestor García-Veiga. This was the 100th Grand Prix start for McLaren. In those 100 races, McLaren had won 13 Grands Prix, achieved 47 podium finishes, 4 pole positions, 6 fastest laps and won 1 Driver's and 1 Constructor's World Championship. This race marked the Formula One World Championship debut for British constructor Frank Williams Racing Cars (as a constructor), Brazilian constructor Fittipaldi and Argentinian constructor Berta. Both Fittipaldi and Berta were the first constructors of their respective nations to participate in Formula One. This was the first pole position for American-British constructor Shadow. Shadow became the first American constructor to get a pole position. This was the first fastest lap set by a Hesketh. This was the last race for Firestone tyres, equipping the Parnelli team (piloted by Mario Andretti), who preferred to concentrate his efforts in the American open-wheel car racing (more exactly in the USAC) since then.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Emerson Fittipaldi 9 2 James Hunt 6 3 Carlos Reutemann 4 4 Clay Regazzoni 3 5 Patrick Depailler 2Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 McLaren-Ford 9 2 Hesketh-Ford 6 3 Brabham-Ford 4 4 Ferrari 3 5 Tyrrell-Ford 2Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References