1977 Argentine Grand Prix

1977 Argentine Grand Prix
Race 1 of 17 in the 1977 Formula One season
Race details
Date	January 9, 1977
Location	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Course	Permanent road course
Course length	5.81 km (3.61 miles)
Distance	53 laps, 307.93 km (191.33 miles)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	James Hunt	McLaren-Ford
Time	1:48.68
Fastest lap
Driver	James Hunt	McLaren-Ford
Time	1:51.06 on lap 21
Podium
First	Jody Scheckter	Wolf-Ford
Second	Carlos Pace	Brabham-Alfa Romeo
Third	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari

The 1977 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Buenos Aires circuit, Argentina on January 9, 1977.

Report

The 1977 season started in Argentina, and it was reigning world champion James Hunt who started off his title defence with pole position in his McLaren. Countryman John Watson shared the front row with him in the Brabham, and Patrick Depailler in the six-wheeled Tyrrell was third on the grid.

Watson took the lead at the start with Hunt second. Watson led for the first 10 laps until Hunt moved ahead and pulled away, with Mario Andretti's Lotus third, but soon the other McLaren of Jochen Mass took the place. Mass had to retire soon after with an engine failure which caused him to spin, and a suspension failure took teammate and race leader Hunt out three laps later. Watson took the lead again, but he also had suspension failures and let teammate Carlos Pace through. Watson eventually retired, and Pace struggled towards the end due to heat in his cockpit and was passed by Jody Scheckter's Wolf and Andretti, but the latter retired then with a wheel bearing failure. Scheckter took the first win of 1977, with Pace second, and home hero Carlos Reutemann completing the podium for Ferrari.

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	20	Jody Scheckter	Wolf-Ford	53	1:40:11.19	11	9
2	8	Carlos Pace	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	53	+43.24	6	6
3	12	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	53	+46.02	7	4
4	28	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi-Ford	53	+55.48	16	3
5	5	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford	51	Wheel bearing	8	2
6	22	Clay Regazzoni	Ensign-Ford	51	+2 laps	12	1
7	19	Vittorio Brambilla	Surtees-Ford	48	Out of fuel	13
Ret	10	Ian Scheckter	March-Ford	45	Electrical	17
NC	16	Tom Pryce	Shadow-Ford	45	Not classified	9
Ret	7	John Watson	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	41	Suspension	2
Ret	9	Alex Ribeiro	March-Ford	39	Transmission	20
NC	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	37	Not classified	15
Ret	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell-Ford	32	Overheating	3
Ret	1	James Hunt	McLaren-Ford	31	Suspension	1
Ret	2	Jochen Mass	McLaren-Ford	28	Spun off	5
Ret	3	Ronnie Peterson	Tyrrell-Ford	28	Spun off	14
Ret	29	Ingo Hoffmann	Fittipaldi-Ford	22	Engine	19
Ret	11	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	20	Fuel system	4
Ret	18	Hans Binder	Surtees-Ford	18	Accident	18
Ret	17	Renzo Zorzi	Shadow-Ford	2	Gearbox	21
DNS	6	Gunnar Nilsson	Lotus-Ford			10

Notes

• This was a debut victory for Wolf Racing.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Jody Scheckter	9
2	Carlos Pace	6
3	Carlos Reutemann	4
4	Emerson Fittipaldi	3
5	Mario Andretti	2

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Wolf-Ford	9
2	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	6
3	Ferrari	4
4	Fittipaldi-Ford	3
5	Lotus-Ford	2

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