1977 Argentine Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Jody Scheckter gave Wolf an extraordinary debut victory in the 1977 Argentine Grand Prix. James Hunt began his title defence on pole, but heat and mechanical failures transformed the race before Scheckter brought the new team home ahead of Carlos Pace and Carlos Reutemann.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	James Hunt	McLaren
Pole time	1:48.68
Fastest lap	James Hunt	McLaren
Fastest-lap time	1:51.060 on lap 21
First	Jody Scheckter	Wolf
Second	Carlos Pace	Brabham
Third	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
6 January 1977	Thursday unofficial practice	Start time unconfirmed
7 January 1977	Friday morning timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
7 January 1977	Friday afternoon timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
8 January 1977	Saturday morning practice	Start time unconfirmed
8 January 1977	Saturday final qualifying	One hour; start unconfirmed
9 January 1977	Race	Start time unconfirmed

All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.

Championship background

Argentina returned to the calendar after its 1976 cancellation. Hunt arrived as reigning champion, while Ferrari paired Niki Lauda with Reutemann and Lotus introduced its new 78. Wolf’s fresh start added another unknown to an already competitive field, and the Buenos Aires heat promised a demanding opening test.

Race entries

Scheckter moved to Wolf, with Ronnie Peterson taking his place at Tyrrell. John Watson joined Pace at Brabham, Reutemann partnered Lauda at Ferrari and Clay Regazzoni moved to Ensign. Renzo Zorzi joined Shadow, while Vittorio Brambilla and Hans Binder drove for Surtees. BRM’s new car failed to arrive after transport problems, leaving Larry Perkins without a drive.

Thursday unofficial practice

Reutemann’s homecoming began with a spin through the catch fencing, though Ferrari repaired the relatively minor damage before official practice. Gunnar Nilsson suffered an engine failure in the new Lotus. The preliminary running offered useful preparation, but it also gave the mechanics immediate work before the season’s first grid-setting sessions.

Friday morning timed practice

Patrick Depailler led in the revised six-wheeled Tyrrell, with Hunt close behind. Watson’s first competitive running in the Brabham was encouraging, but Pace’s water-hose failure forced him to change cars. Ferrari struggled for traction, while Peterson’s Tyrrell programme was complicated by illness and front stub-axle failures. The new machinery was far from uniformly trouble-free.

Friday afternoon timed practice

Hunt established the lap that would secure pole, with Mass also showing strong McLaren form. Andretti finally overcame a misfire, only for an exploding fire-extinguisher bottle to damage the front of his Lotus extensively. He brought the car to a halt, but its monocoque could not be repaired at the circuit. Pace damaged Brabham’s spare, adding to his frustrating day.

Saturday morning practice

Andretti took over Nilsson’s Lotus, leaving the Swede without a car to race. Wolf had changed its engine overnight, but Scheckter still encountered a high-speed misfire and fuel pick-up problems. Laffite’s Ligier required an engine change that cost him much of Saturday’s running. Teams were trying to secure reliability as well as improve their grid positions.

Saturday final qualifying

Hunt retained pole, with Watson securing the other front-row place. Pace’s renewed cooling trouble forced him to borrow Watson’s Brabham for a brief run, which earned sixth. Lauda improved to fourth, behind Depailler, but Ferrari’s difficult handling left Reutemann seventh.

Andretti could not better Friday’s lap in the borrowed Lotus. Scheckter qualified 11th despite Wolf’s persistent problems, while Regazzoni made a solid start with Ensign. Nilsson’s withdrawal left 20 cars ready for the race, in conditions that would test their endurance severely.

Qualifying Classification

Each driver’s best eligible practice lap determined the qualifying order.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Best Time
1	1	James Hunt	McLaren	1:48.68
2	7	John Watson	Brabham	1:48.96
3	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell	1:49.13
4	11	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	1:49.73
5	2	Jochen Mass	McLaren	1:49.81
6	8	Carlos Pace	Brabham	1:49.97
7	12	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	1:50.02
8	5	Mario Andretti	Lotus	1:50.13
9	16	Tom Pryce	Shadow	1:50.65
10	6	Gunnar Nilsson	Lotus	1:50.66
11	20	Jody Scheckter	Wolf	1:50.76
12	22	Clay Regazzoni	Ensign	1:50.97
13	19	Vittorio Brambilla	Surtees	1:51.03
14	3	Ronnie Peterson	Tyrrell	1:51.34
15	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier	1:51.52
16	28	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi	1:51.53
17	10	Ian Scheckter	March	1:52.40
18	18	Hans Binder	Surtees	1:53.11
19	29	Ingo Hoffmann	Fittipaldi	1:53.28
20	9	Alex Ribeiro	March	1:53.54
21	17	Renzo Zorzi	Shadow	1:54.19

What happened in the 1977 Argentine Grand Prix?

Watson led Hunt away before the McLaren moved ahead after ten laps. Mass also advanced, but his engine failure ended that challenge. Hunt then retired with suspension failure, handing the lead back to Watson and transforming the contest.

Watson’s own mechanical trouble allowed Pace through, but the Brazilian became increasingly affected by the intense cockpit heat. Scheckter closed in and took the lead. Andretti also passed Pace before a wheel-bearing failure ended the Lotus driver’s race, another retirement among the front-runners.

Scheckter completed a remarkable victory for Wolf on its debut, with Pace second and Reutemann giving the home crowd a podium finish. Fittipaldi, Andretti and Regazzoni completed the points places, Andretti classified despite his retirement. Wolf had turned a difficult practice programme into the perfect opening result.

After the race, Jody Scheckter headed the drivers’ standings with 9 points, followed by Carlos Pace on 6. Wolf – Ford led the constructors’ table on 9, with Brabham – Alfa Romeo on 6.

1977 Argentine Grand Prix race results

The 1977 Argentine Grand Prix was held on 9 January 1977.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	20	Jody Scheckter	Wolf	53	1:40:11.19	9
2	8	Carlos Pace	Brabham	53	+ 43.24	6
3	12	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	53	+ 46.02	4
4	28	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi	53	+ 55.48	3
5	5	Mario Andretti	Lotus	51	Wheel bearing	2
6	22	Clay Regazzoni	Ensign	51	+ 2 laps	1
7	19	Vittorio Brambilla	Surtees	48	Out of fuel	0
Ret	10	Ian Scheckter	March	45	Electrical	0
NC	16	Tom Pryce	Shadow	45	+ 8 laps	0
Ret	7	John Watson	Brabham	41	Suspension	0
Ret	9	Alex Ribeiro	March	39	Transmission	0
NC	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier	37	+ 16 laps	0
Ret	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell	32	Overheating	0
Ret	1	James Hunt	McLaren	31	Suspension	0
Ret	2	Jochen Mass	McLaren	28	Spun off	0
Ret	3	Ronnie Peterson	Tyrrell	28	Spun off	0
Ret	29	Ingo Hoffmann	Fittipaldi	22	Engine	0
Ret	11	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	20	Fuel system	0
Ret	18	Hans Binder	Surtees	18	Accident	0
Ret	17	Renzo Zorzi	Shadow	2	Gearbox	0
DNS	6	Gunnar Nilsson	Lotus			0

1977 Argentine Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	1	James Hunt	McLaren	21	1:51.060

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded.

1977 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 1977 Argentine Grand Prix.

1977 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Jody Scheckter	South African	Wolf	9
2	Carlos Pace	Brazilian	Brabham	6
3	Carlos Reutemann	Argentine	Ferrari	4
4	Emerson Fittipaldi	Brazilian	Fittipaldi	3
5	Mario Andretti	American	Lotus	2
6	Clay Regazzoni	Swiss	Ensign	1
7	Vittorio Brambilla	Italian	Surtees	0
8	Ian Scheckter	South African	March	0
9	Tom Pryce	British	Shadow	0
10	John Watson	British	Brabham	0
11	Alex Ribeiro	Brazilian	March	0
12	Jacques Laffite	French	Ligier	0
13	Patrick Depailler	French	Tyrrell	0
14	James Hunt	British	McLaren	0
15	Jochen Mass	German	McLaren	0
16	Ronnie Peterson	Swedish	Tyrrell	0
17	Ingo Hoffmann	Brazilian	Fittipaldi	0
18	Niki Lauda	Austrian	Ferrari	0
19	Hans Binder	Austrian	Surtees	0
20	Renzo Zorzi	Italian	Shadow	0
21	Gunnar Nilsson	Swedish	Lotus	0

1977 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Wolf – Ford	9
2	Brabham – Alfa Romeo	6
3	Ferrari	4
4	Fittipaldi – Ford	3
5	Lotus – Ford	2
6	Ensign – Ford	1
—	Surtees – Ford	0
—	March – Ford	0
—	Shadow – Ford	0
—	Ligier – Matra	0
—	Tyrrell – Ford	0
—	McLaren – Ford	0

Drivers counted their best 8 results from rounds 1–9 and their best 7 from rounds 10–17. Only the highest-placed car for each constructor could score constructor points, with the same dropped-results limits applying.

1977 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	1977 Argentine Grand Prix	Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Buenos Aires	9 January
2	1977 Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo de Interlagos, São Paulo	23 January
3	1977 South African Grand Prix	Kyalami, Midrand	5 March
4	1977 United States West Grand Prix	Long Beach Street Circuit, Long Beach, California	3 April
5	1977 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuito del Jarama, San Sebastián de los Reyes	8 May
6	1977 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	22 May
7	1977 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder	5 June
8	1977 Swedish Grand Prix	Scandinavian Raceway, Anderstorp	19 June
9	1977 French Grand Prix	Dijon-Prenois, Dijon	3 July
10	1977 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	16 July
11	1977 German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim	31 July
12	1977 Austrian Grand Prix	Österreichring, Spielberg	14 August
13	1977 Dutch Grand Prix	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort	28 August
14	1977 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	11 September
15	1977 United States Grand Prix	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York	2 October
16	1977 Canadian Grand Prix	Mosport Park, Bowmanville	9 October
17	1977 Japanese Grand Prix	Fuji Speedway, Oyama	23 October