1972 Argentine Grand Prix

The 1972 Argentine Grand Prix was the first race of the 1972 season. It was won by defending World Champion Jackie Stewart in a , ahead of Denny Hulme in a and Jacky Ickx in a . Local favorite Carlos Reutemann took the pole in a , but tire problems caused him to fall to seventh by the finish.
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==Background==
After last season's non-championship race (won by Chris Amon), the Argentinian race was approved for a return to the calendar after an interval of 12 years. The race would be using the #9 circuit, which was just over two miles in length, or about 0.4 miles shorter than the old #2 circuit. The track shortcut the loop just before the pit straight, and made the left hand bend onto the straight tighter.
*: Since Watkins Glen the team had gone through a number of changes. The new owner was a London used car dealer named Bernie Ecclestone, and the old owner, Ron Tauranac was nowhere to be seen. Most notably, the cars were painted completely white, with very little sponsorship showing. Tim Schenken had moved to Surtees. Graham Hill had pulled rank, and no longer wished to have anything to do with the BT34, which was then given to the rookie, Carlos Reutemann. Hill used Schenken's BT33, which had had the chassis stiffened, and been fitted with new brakes, shock absorbers and front bodywork. The BT34 had new bodywork around the cockpit, intended to lower drag.
*: The P160s had received a number of detail changes, and were now called P160Bs, even though some of the features described were introduced during 1971. Louis Stanley had announced that the team would have Marlboro sponsorship, and would field five cars. Three cars at each race would be the "regular" drivers, and two would be rental drivers. The regular drivers would normally be new driver Jean-Pierre Beltoise, Howden Ganley and Peter Gethin, but Beltoise could not enter Argentina without risking imprisonment and further legal problems, so Reine Wisell took over his spot. But for some inexplicable reason, Wisell was given one of the 1970 vintage P153s, and the normal P160B was given to Alex Soler-Roig, one of the rental drivers, being sponsored by España Marlboro. The other rental driver was Helmut Marko, in another P153.
*: The drivers had the same cars as in 1971, but with many revisions. The rear suspension was now a wishbone and link type with a wider track. The front was the same design, but with revised geometry and a corresponding widening of the track. And a great deal of development was carried out on the engine, with a claimed improvement in engine reliability, as engine problems were the team's major shortfall in 1971.
*: A new driver, paint job and a lot of detail work went into the same cars as last season, which were now called 72Ds. The cars are now emblazoned as John Player Specials, painted jet black with sharp gold trim, anvil shaped high air boxes behind the roll bar, and rear wings mounted further astern with larger side plates. Suspension geometry had been tinkered with, and the team also claimed to have done a great deal of work on reliability. Reine Wisell had been dumped in favor of F3 champion Dave Walker from Australia.
*: Autodelta had ended their Formula One efforts again, so March was going to focus on just two factory cars, plus the usual gaggle of privateers. Andrea de Adamich was gone to Surtees, and Nanni Galli had signed with the new team, so Niki Lauda was hired as #2 to Ronnie Peterson. The new model 721 was a development of the 711, but the team tried in practice a "normal" looking nose in place of the 'tea tray'.
**Frank Williams also had a 721 for Henri Pescarolo, painted dark blue instead of the factory's STP red. This was the final race that the team was known as "Frank Williams Racing Cars". In testing the team had felt that the new chassis was not as stiff as the 711, and were looking into modifications.
*: Jean-Pierre Beltoise had left the team for BRM, and Matra made no effort to replace him. Chris Amon had the latest chassis with some revised bodywork, revised front suspension, and the latest engine, which obviously had more power than in 1971.
*: The difference between the end of 1971 and start of 1972 was like night and day. The team was back to a two car entry, with new Yardley sponsorship and a larger contingent of mechanics. The second driver was now Indianapolis pole winner Peter Revson. The cars had lighter bodywork and revised rear suspension (aiming to add to the improvements made at the end of last season), and the entire effort was much more energetic and professional. Virtually the only thing that was unchanged was 1967 World Champion Denny Hulme, and even he seemed to be more confident and focused.
*: John Surtees had decided to retire from driving, and focus on managing the team. This would consist of Tim Schenken and Mike Hailwood, with Andrea de Adamich driving a 'rental' car with Ceramica Pagnossin sponsorship. All of the cars now carried a TS9B designation, with full width noses and side radiators. Hailwood was not present in Argentina, but off competing in the Tasman Series.
*: Even though the cars had been entirely rebuilt over the winter, the cars were unchanged from the end of 1971. The original chassis, 001, was now a show car for the sponsors. A new chassis, 004, had already been sent on to Kyalami for extended testing, so the team was without a spare car in Argentina.
==Entry List==
The full entry list for the is outlined below:
No.	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model 	Tyre
1 	Graham Hill 	Motor Racing Developments Ltd. 	 	BT33 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
2 	Carlos Reutemann 	Motor Racing Developments Ltd. 	 	BT34 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
3 	Howden Ganley 	Marlboro BRM 	 	P160B 	 	P142 V12 3.0 	
4 	Reine Wisell 	Marlboro BRM 	 	P153 	 	P142 V12 3.0 	
5 	Peter Gethin 	Marlboro BRM 	 	P160B 	 	P142 V12 3.0 	
6 	Alex Soler-Roig 	España Marlboro BRM 	 	P160B 	 	P142 V12 3.0 	
7 	Helmut Marko 	Austria Marlboro BRM 	 	P153 	 	P142 V12 3.0 	
8 	Jacky Ickx 	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 	 	312B2 	 	001/1 F12 3.0	
9 	Clay Regazzoni 	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 	 	312B2 	 	001/1 F12 3.0	
10 	Mario Andretti 	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 	 	312B2 	 	001/1 F12 3.0	
11 	Emerson Fittipaldi	John Player Team Lotus 	 	72D 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
12 	Dave Walker 	John Player Team Lotus 	 	72D 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
14 	Ronnie Peterson 	STP March Racing Team 	 	721 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
15 	Niki Lauda 	STP March Racing Team 	 	721 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
16 	Chris Amon 	Equipe Matra Sports 	 	MS120C 	 	MS72 V12 3.0 	
17 	Denny Hulme 	Yardley Team McLaren 	 	M19A 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
18 	Peter Revson 	Yardley Team McLaren 	 	M19A 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
19 	Tim Schenken 	Brooke Bond Oxo Team Surtees 	 	TS9B 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
20 	Andrea de Adamich 	Ceramica Pagnossin Team Surtees	 	TS9B 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
21 	Jackie Stewart 	Elf Team Tyrrell 	 	003 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
22 	François Cevert 	Elf Team Tyrrell 	 	003 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
23 	Henri Pescarolo 	Team Williams Motul 	 	721 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
==Practice Overview==
==Qualifying==
===Qualifying Results===
The full qualifying results for the are outlined below:
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Time 	Time 	Time 	Time 	Gap
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	P1 	P2 	P3 	P4 	Gap
1 	2 	Carlos Reutemann 	 	1:15.26	1:14.71	1:14.08	1:12.46	—
2 	21 	Jackie Stewart 	 	1:15.18	1:13.93	1:13.61	1:12.68	+0.28s
3 	17 	Denny Hulme 	 	1:15.02	1:13.56	1:13.67	1:12.99	+0.53s
4 	18 	Peter Revson 	 	1:15.02	1:13.56	1:13.67	1:12.99	+0.53s
5 	11 	Emerson Fittipaldi	 	1:16.39	1:14.32	1:13.66	1:13.28	+0.82s
6 	9 	Clay Regazzoni 	 	1:16.77	1:14.13	1:14.38	1:13.28	+0.82s
7 	22 	François Cevert 	 	1:15.55	1:14.77	1:13.98	1:13.39	+0.93s
8 	8 	Jacky Ickx 	 	1:16.95	1:13.50	1:15.11	1:13.72	+1.04s
9 	10 	Mario Andretti 	 	1:17.07	1:13.93	1:14.81	1:13.61	+1.15s
10 	14 	Ronnie Peterson 	 	1:18.76	1:16.24	1:14.06	1:14.24	+1.60s
11 	19 	Tim Schenken 	 	1:16.52	1:14.70	— 	1:14.17	+1.71s
12* 	16 	Chris Amon 	 	1:16.38	1:14.28	1:22.23	1:14.47	+1.82s
13 	3 	Howden Ganley 	 	1:17.36	1:15.68	1:15.03	1:14.28	+1.82s
14 	20 	Andrea de Adamich 	 	1:16.54	1:14.98	1:15.84	1:14.34	+1.88s
15 	23 	Henri Pescarolo 	 	1:18.96	1:16.11	1:15.95	1:14.49	+2.03s
16 	1 	Graham Hill 	 	1:16.68	1:16.34	1:16.07	1:14.52	+2.06s
17 	4 	Reine Wisell 	 	1:19.80	1:15.07	1:15.77	1:14.52	+2.06s
18 	5 	Peter Gethin 	 	1:18.31	1:16.04	1:17.37	1:15.11	+2.65s
19 	7 	Helmut Marko 	 	1:17.26	1:15.53	1:16.45	1:24.19	+3.07s
20 	12 	Dave Walker 	 	1:25.74	1:17.97	1:15.73	1:15.55	+3.09s
21 	6 	Alex Soler-Roig 	 	1:20.82	1:18.00	1:16.70	1:15.66	+3.20s
22 	15 	Niki Lauda 	 	1:19.13	1:16.54	1:16.45	1:15.92	+3.46s
** Amon, however, would have gearbox problem with his car after he had successfully completed the warming-up lap.
===Grid===
** Amon, however, would have gearbox problem with his car after he had successfully completed the warming-up lap.
==Race==
===Results===
Pos	No	Driver 	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired 	Grid	Points
1 	21	Jackie Stewart 	 	95 	1:57:58.82 	2 	9
2 	17	Denny Hulme 	 	95 	+ 25.96 	4 	6
3 	8 	Jacky Ickx 	 	95 	+ 59.39 	8 	4
4 	9 	Clay Regazzoni 	 	95 	+ 1:06.72 	6 	3
5 	19	Tim Schenken 	 	95 	+ 1:09.11 	11 	2
6 	14	Ronnie Peterson 	 	94 	+ 1 lap 	10 	1
7 	2 	Carlos Reutemann 	 	93 	+ 2 laps 	1 	 
8 	23	Henri Pescarolo 	 	93 	+ 2 laps 	15 	 
9 	3 	Howden Ganley 	 	93 	+ 2 laps 	13 	 
10 	7 	Helmut Marko 	 	93 	+ 2 laps 	19 	 
11 	15	Niki Lauda 	 	93 	+ 2 laps 	22 	 
Ret	11	Emerson Fittipaldi	 	61 	Suspension 	5 	 
Ret	22	François Cevert 	 	59 	Gearbox 	7 	 
Ret	4 	Reine Wisell 	 	59 	Water leak 	17 	 
Ret	18	Peter Revson 	 	49 	Engine 	3 	 
Ret	10	Mario Andretti 	 	20 	Engine 	9 	 
Ret	20	Andrea de Adamich 	 	11 	Fuel system 	14 	 
Ret	1 	Graham Hill 	 	11 	Fuel pump 	16 	 
DSQ	12	Dave Walker 	 	8 	Received outside assistance	20 	 
Ret	5 	Peter Gethin 	 	1 	Oil leak 	18 	 
Ret	6 	Alex Soler-Roig 	 	1 	Accident 	21 	 
DNS	16	Chris Amon 	 	0 	Gearbox on warm-up lap 	12 	 
==Milestones==
* Carlos Reutemann scored pole position on his debut on home soil.
* Last points for Tim Schenken.
==Standings==
1972 Drivers' World Championship	1972 Drivers' World Championship	1972 Drivers' World Championship	1972 Drivers' World Championship
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts 	
1 	Jackie Stewart 	9 	
2 	Denny Hulme 	6 	
3 	Jacky Ickx 	4 	
4 	Clay Regazzoni 	3 	
5 	Tim Schenken 	2 	
6 	Ronnie Peterson 	1 	
Only point scoring drivers are shown.
1972 Constructors' World Championship	1972 Constructors' World Championship	1972 Constructors' World Championship	1972 Constructors' World Championship
Pos. 	Team 	Pts 	
1 	 	9 	
2 	 	6 	
3 	 	4 	
4 	 	2 	
5 	 	1 	
Only point scoring constructors are shown.
==References==
*
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:1972 Grands Prix
Category:Argentine Grand Prix