The 1977 Argentine Grand Prix was Round 1 of the 1977 Formula 1 World Championship. The event was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Sunday, 9 January 1977. James Hunt started on pole position in the McLaren Ford and Jody Scheckter was the race winner in the Wolf Ford.
Having been the pioneers of aerodynamics with winged F1 cars in 1968, Team Lotus debuted the first ground effect car at this event. The Lotus 78 featured sidepod skirts, bodywork extensions which dropped to the track surface from the car’s edges. When lowered the lower air pressure created underneath the car gave them huge amounts of downforce without the drag that comes with wings.
1977 Argentine Grand Prix Race Result
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Nationality | Team | Tyre | Laps | Time/Retired | Race Time | Gap | Interval | Best Lap | Lap | Started | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | Jody Scheckter | South Africa | Wolf Ford | Goodyear | 53 | 1:40:11.190 | 1:40:11.190 | - | - | 1:52.100 | 15 | 11 | 9 |
| 2 | 8 | Carlos Pace | Brazil | Brabham Alfa Romeo | Goodyear | 53 | +43.240 | 1:40:54.430 | +43.240 | +43.240 | 1:51.180 | 14 | 10 | 6 |
| 3 | 12 | Carlos Reutemann | Argentina | Ferrari | Goodyear | 53 | +46.020 | 1:40:57.210 | +46.020 | +2.780 | 1:51.180 | 37 | 7 | 4 |
| 4 | 28 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Brazil | Fittipaldi Ford | Goodyear | 53 | +55.480 | 1:41:06.670 | +55.480 | +9.460 | 1:53.220 | 19 | 16 | 3 |
| 5 | 5 | Mario Andretti | United States | Lotus Ford | Goodyear | 51 | Wheel Bearing | 2 laps | 2 laps | 1:51.490 | 16 | 8 | 2 | |
| 6 | 22 | Clay Regazzoni | Switzerland | Ensign Ford | Goodyear | 51 | +2 laps | 2 laps | 1:52.710 | 15 | 12 | 1 | ||
| 7 | 19 | Vittorio Brambilla | Italy | Surtees Ford | Goodyear | 48 | Out of Fuel | 5 laps | 3 laps | 1:53.200 | 14 | 13 | ||
| DNF | 10 | Ian Scheckter | South Africa | March Ford | Goodyear | 45 | Electrical | 8 laps | 3 laps | 1:54.520 | 8 | 17 | ||
| NC | 16 | Tom Pryce | Great Britain | Shadow Ford | Goodyear | 45 | +8 laps | 8 laps | 1:51.690 | 36 | 9 | |||
| DNF | 7 | John Watson | Great Britain | Brabham Alfa Romeo | Goodyear | 41 | Suspension | 12 laps | 4 laps | 1:51.570 | 3 | 2 | ||
| DNF | 9 | Alex Ribeiro | Brazil | March Ford | Goodyear | 39 | Transmission | 14 laps | 2 laps | 1:56.290 | 9 | 20 | ||
| NC | 26 | Jacques Laffite | France | Ligier Matra | Goodyear | 37 | +16 laps | 16 laps | 2 laps | 1:52.730 | 35 | 15 | ||
| DNF | 4 | Patrick Depailler | France | Tyrrell Ford | Goodyear | 32 | Overheating | 21 laps | 5 laps | 1:51.530 | 24 | 3 | ||
| DNF | 1 | James Hunt | Great Britain | McLaren Ford | Goodyear | 31 | Suspension | 22 laps | 1 lap | 1:51.060 | 21 | 1 | ||
| DNF | 2 | Jochen Mass | Germany | McLaren Ford | Goodyear | 28 | Spun Off | 25 laps | 3 laps | 1:51.450 | 15 | 5 | ||
| DNF | 3 | Ronnie Peterson | Sweden | Tyrrell Ford | Goodyear | 28 | Spun Off | 25 laps | 1:52.560 | 23 | 14 | |||
| DNF | 29 | Ingo Hoffmann | Brazil | Fittipaldi Ford | Goodyear | 22 | Engine | 31 laps | 6 laps | 1:57.270 | 19 | 19 | ||
| DNF | 11 | Niki Lauda | Austria | Ferrari | Goodyear | 20 | Fuel System | 33 laps | 2 laps | 1:52.020 | 10 | 4 | ||
| DNF | 18 | Hans Binder | Austria | Surtees Ford | Goodyear | 18 | Accident | 35 laps | 2 laps | 1:55.960 | 7 | 18 | ||
| DNF | 17 | Renzo Zorzi | Italy | Shadow Ford | Goodyear | 2 | Gearbox | 51 laps | 16 laps | 2:00.730 | 2 | 21 | ||
| DNS | 6 | Gunnar Nilsson | Sweden | Lotus Ford | 53 laps | 2 laps |