1960 Argentine Grand Prix

 1960 Argentine Grand Prix

Racing data
1st of 10 races of the 1960 Automobile World Championship
Surname:	VII Gran Premio de la Republica Argentina
Date:	February 7, 1960
Place:	Buenos Aires , Argentina
Course:	Autódromo Municipal Ciudad de Buenos Aires
Length:	312.96 km in 80 laps of 3.912 km
Weather:	sunny, dry
Pole position
Driver:	Stirling Moss	Cooper-Climax
Time:	1: 36.9 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Stirling Moss	Cooper-Climax
Time:	1: 38.9 min
Podium
First:	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax
Second:	Cliff Allison	Ferrari
Third:	Maurice Trintignant Stirling Moss	Cooper-Climax

The 1960 Argentine Grand Prix took place on February 7, 1960 at the Autódromo Municipal Ciudad de Buenos Aires near Buenos Aires and was the first race of the 1960 World Automobile Championship .

Reports

background

Debut race of the Lotus 18 (front)

The Argentine Grand Prix took place again as the season opener after a year break. Since the race was held very early in the year, many teams still used the cars from the previous year, only Lotus had already developed the new car. The new Lotus 18 , only used for Innes Ireland , was the team's first rear-engined car. The car was significantly lighter than its predecessor, the Lotus 16, and made Lotus the main competitor of Cooper , who still used the old Cooper T51 . In addition to Ireland, Alan Stacey and Alberto Rodríguez Larreta drove for Lotus, each with the car from last year. For Laretta it was the only Formula 1 race, he turned down a contract offered by Colin Chapman at Lotus and then drove in various other racing series. The Cooper works team kept the driver pairing from the previous year, the reigning world champion Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren .

Despite the signs of inferiority, Ferrari was the only team to continue to rely on the front engine concept and brought a modified version of the Ferrari Dino 246F1 to the start. In addition to Cliff Allison , Phil Hill and Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips , José Froilán González drove for Scuderia Ferrari. For González, the first winner in a Ferrari in the automobile world championship, this was the last race of his career. BRM started for the last time with their front-engined BRM P25 . As in the previous year, Jo Bonnier drove for BRM, his new team mate was Graham Hill , who had previously driven for Lotus. Many drivers used private cars, the last time this was mostly Maserati 250F , the car was used one last time at a Grand Prix at the end of the season. Maserati drivers were Giorgio Scarlatti , Nasif Estéfano , Antonio Creus , Gino Munaron and Ettore Chimeri . Estefano and Munaron contested their debut race, Creus and Chimeri it remained the only race participation. Chimeri was the first driver from Venezuela . It was not until the 1983 Brazilian Grand Prix that a driver from this country, Johnny Cecotto , competed in Formula 1. The Rob Walker Racing Team registered two private Cooper T51s for Stirling Moss and Maurice Trintignant . Trintignant drove for the team for the last time, and in the following race they switched to private Lotus 18. Masten Gregory drove a private Porsche for the only time in his career, Scuderia Centro Sud used two Cooper for Roberto Bonomi and Carlos Menditéguy . Bonomi contested the only race of his career, for Menditeguy it was the last. Together with the resignation of González, the era of successful Argentine Formula 1 drivers, who had dominated the automobile championship in the early 1950s, finally ended. Harry Schell's long career for the time also ended. He drove his last race in a private Cooper T51 and had a fatal accident a few weeks later at a non-automotive Grand Prix at the Silverstone Circuit .

The Argentine Grand Prix had previously been won once by Moss, twice each by Ferrari and Maserati and once by Cooper. Due to a lack of Argentine drivers and an unstable political situation in the country, the Argentine Grand Prix was paused until 1971 and only counted back to the world championship in the 1972 World Automobile Championship. All teams used Dunlop tires and had logistical problems in the run-up to the race, as the 1959 US Grand Prix took place just a few weeks earlier. The teams had to have their cars and the associated equipment transported to their home countries in Europe, prepared for the new season and then brought to Argentina. The logistical planning of many teams was hampered by strikes by dock workers in Argentina that lasted several weeks. The Cooper works team, for example, only arrived one day before the start of the race and had only a few laps available for race preparation and qualification.

training

Moss was again the fastest in training and reached the fourth pole position in a row. Cooper also built on the success of the last race of the season last year and remained the dominant team. The new rear-engined Lotus 18 was competitive straight away, Ireland qualified in second place, but was 1.6 seconds slower than Moss. This was the best starting position for a Lotus to date, after the previous cars mostly only reached starting positions in the middle of the field. Graham Hill qualified in third place ahead of his teammate Bonnier. BRM also significantly improved the performance of their car. The Ferrari of Graf Berghe von Trips, Phil Hill and Allison started behind the BRM. González finished eleventh. Moss teammate qualified eighth ahead of Schell and the reigning world champion Brabham.

The difference between the new Lotus 18 and its predecessor was particularly evident in the time gap between teammates, Stacey and Larreta were in 14th and 15th, both drivers were more than 5 seconds slower than Ireland. The Maserati 250F were obsolete and therefore no longer competitive; they took the last five places. The best Maserati driver was Scarlatti in 18th place.

run

Ireland won the starting duel against Moss and was ahead of Bonnier, Graham Hill and Phil Hill after the first round. Moss, on the other hand, fell back to eighth place. Ireland was leading a Grand Prix for the first time in his career, but lost several positions after a spin on the second lap of the race and was then behind the two BRMs who led the race. Meanwhile, Moss first overtook the two Argentine drivers Menditeguy and González, then Brabham and Phil Hill. After Moss had also overtaken Ireland, he caught up with Graham Hill and Bonnier. Due to the hot temperatures, several drivers were absent due to overheating of the car or dehydration . Scarlatti parked his Maserati on lap 11, two more Maserati from Creus and Chimeri followed a few laps later and Stacey was no longer physically able to continue.

On lap 16, Moss overtook both Graham Hill and Bonnier to take the lead himself. However, this only lasted a few laps when Bonnier countered and overtook Moss. Bonnier then stayed in first place for 15 laps until Moss managed to take the lead again. The duel at the top was then decided by several technical failures. Stacey was eliminated due to physical exhaustion, Graham Hills BRM overheated on lap 37. After that, Moss suffered a suspension damage and fell out while in the lead. Moss thereupon took over the car from Trintignant, although according to a rule introduced in 1958 this procedure resulted in the withdrawal of the points scored. The only advantage of a driver change in the race was that the classification counted and you could displace other drivers from better points. Brabham also retired two laps after Moss, an engine failure was the reason. The last retirement of the race concerned Schell, who parked the car on lap 63 with a defective fuel pump at his last Grand Prix.

After the retirement of Moss, Bonnier led the race for 25 more laps until he too had engine problems. He fell behind Ireland and McLaren when Ireland also got into trouble and fell behind. Thus McLaren took the lead and held it until the end of the race. This was the second win in a row for McLaren, but the only one for him in the automobile world championship in 1960. Allison came second in a Ferrari, who achieved the only podium finish of his career and also scored the last time points. Moss finished third, but received no points from the driver swap with Trintignant. Trintignant was also on the podium for the last time in his career. Menditeguy finished fourth in his last race ahead of Graf Berghe von Trips in fifth. Ireland came in sixth despite problems with his car and was the first driver in Formula 1 history to receive a point for this place. The fastest race lap was driven by Moss, but unlike in previous years, there was no point for it.

For the first time, McLaren led the drivers' standings, ahead of Allison and Menditeguy. In the constructors' championship, Cooper started the new season in first place ahead of Ferrari and Lotus. Since the Argentine Grand Prix had not been held for a long time, this was the only victory for McLaren on this track, as well as the second and last for Cooper.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Camoradi International	02	Masts Gregory	Behra-Porsche	Porsche 1.5 B4	D.
Scuderia Centro Sud	04th	Roberto Bonomi	Cooper T51	Maserati 2.5 L4	D.
	06th	Carlos Menditeguy
Giorgio Scarlatti	08th	Giorgio Scarlatti	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	D.
Nasif Estéfano	10	Nasif Estéfano	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	D.
Antonio Creus	12	Antonio Creus	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	D.
Gino Munaron	14th	Gino Munaron	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	D.
Cooper Car Company	16	Bruce McLaren	Cooper T51	Climax 2.5 L4	D.
	18th	Jack Brabham
Team Lotus	20th	Innes Ireland	Lotus 18	Climax 2.5 L4	D.
	22nd	Alan Stacey	Lotus 16
	46	Alberto Rodriguez Larreta
Scuderia Ferrari	24	Cliff Allison	Ferrari Dino 246F1	Ferrari 2.4 V6	D.
	26th	Phil Hill
	30th	Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips
	32	José Froilán González
Ecurie Bleue	34	Harry Schell	Cooper T51	Climax 2.2 L4	D.
RRC Walker Racing Team	36	Stirling Moss	Cooper T51	Climax 2.5 L4	D.
			Cooper T43
	38	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper T51
		Stirling Moss
Owen Racing Organization	40	Jo Bonnier	BRM P25	BRM 2.5 L4	D.
	42	Graham Hill
Ettore Chimeri	44	Ettore Chimeri	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	D.

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b} Trintignant drove the Cooper with the number 38 in the training sessions and started the race with it. Moss took over the car in the race after a retirement on lap 40.

Classifications

Starting grid

Item	driver	constructor	time	Ø speed	begin
01	Stirling Moss	Cooper-Climax	1: 36.9	145.34 km / h	01
02	Innes Ireland	Lotus Climax	1: 38.5	142.98 km / h	02
03	Graham Hill	BRM	1: 38.9	142.40 km / h	03
04th	Jo Bonnier	BRM	1: 38.9	142.40 km / h	04th
05	Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips	Ferrari	1: 39.3	141.82 km / h	05
06th	Phil Hill	Ferrari	1: 39.3	141.82 km / h	06th
07th	Cliff Allison	Ferrari	1: 39.7	141.26 km / h	07th
08th	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper-Climax	1: 39.9	140.97 km / h	08th
09	Harry Schell	Cooper-Climax	1: 40.3	140.41 km / h	09
10	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	1: 40.6	139.99 km / h	10
11	José Froilán González	Ferrari	1: 41.0	139.44 km / h	11
12	Carlos Menditeguy	Cooper Maserati	1: 41.8	138.34 km / h	12
13	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	1: 41.8	138.34 km / h	13
14th	Alan Stacey	Lotus Climax	1: 43.6	135.94 km / h	14th
15th	Rodriguez Larreta	Lotus Climax	1: 45.0	134.13 km / h	15th
16	Masts Gregory	Porsche	1: 45.5	133.49 km / h	16
17th	Roberto Bonomi	Cooper Maserati	1: 46.1	132.74 km / h	17th
18th	Giorgio Scarlatti	Maserati	1: 46.1	132.74 km / h	18th
19th	Gino Munaron	Maserati	1: 49.0	129.20 km / h	19th
20th	Nasif Estéfano	Maserati	1: 50.1	127.91 km / h	20th
21st	Ettore Chimeri	Maserati	1: 50.5	127.45 km / h	21st
22nd	Antonio Creus	Maserati	1: 52.8	124.85 km / h	22nd

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	80		2: 17: 49.5	13	1: 41.3
02	Cliff Allison	Ferrari	80		+ 26.3	07th	1: 41.1
03	Maurice Trintignant Stirling Moss	Cooper-Climax	80		+ 36.9	08th	1: 41.3
04th	Carlos Menditeguy	Cooper Maserati	80		+ 53.3	12	1: 41.0
05	Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips	Ferrari	79		+ 1 lap	05	1: 41.6
06th	Innes Ireland	Lotus Climax	79		+ 1 lap	02	1: 40.0
07th	Jo Bonnier	BRM	79		+ 1 lap	04th	1: 39.5
08th	Phil Hill	Ferrari	77		+ 3 rounds	06th	1: 41.0
09	Rodriguez Larreta	Lotus Climax	77		+ 3 rounds	15th	1: 40.4
10	José Froilán González	Ferrari	77		+ 3 rounds	11	1: 42.3
11	Roberto Bonomi	Cooper-Climax	76		+ 4 rounds	17th	1: 45.0
12	Masts Gregory	Porsche	76		+ 4 rounds	16	1: 45.2
13	Gino Munaron	Maserati	72		+ 8 rounds	19th	1: 49.7
14th	Nasif Estéfano	Maserati	70		+ 10 rounds	20th	1: 51.0
-	Harry Schell	Cooper-Climax	63		DNF	09	1: 42.1	Fuel pump
-	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	42		DNF	10	1: 40.5	Engine failure
-	Stirling Moss	Cooper-Climax	40		DNF	01	1: 38.9	suspension
-	Graham Hill	BRM	37		DNF	03	1: 40.4	Overheating
-	Alan Stacey	Lotus Climax	24		DNF	14th	1: 42.9	Driver tired
-	Ettore Chimeri	Maserati	23		DNF	21st	1: 53.4	Driver tired
-	Antonio Creus	Maserati	16		DNF	22nd	1: 52.3	Driver tired
-	Giorgio Scarlatti	Ferrari	11		DNF	18th	1: 46.8	Overheating

World Cup stands after the race

The first six of the race got 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 points. Only the six best results from ten races counted. Only the points of the best placed driver on a team counted in the constructors' championship.

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points 01  Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 8th 02  Cliff Allison Ferrari 6th 03  Carlos Menditeguy Cooper Maserati 3 04th  Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips Ferrari 2 05  Innes Ireland Lotus Climax 1

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 01  cooper 8th 02  Ferrari 6th 03  lotus 1

Web links

• Photos at f1-facts.com
• Grand Prix Results: Argentine GP, 1960 at grandprix.com