Carlos Reutemann
Carlos Alberto Reutemann (born 12th April, 1942 in Santa Fe, Argentina) is an Argentine former racing driver and politician most famous for his appearances in Formula One.
Formula One
1976
In 1976, Reutemann drove for Marlboro Team McLaren using their new M23 chassis initially alongside German Jochen Mass - whom was later replaced by Tom Sneva.
Reutemann took his first win of the year at the South African GP, taking advantage of the poor reliability of both Ferraris. He would follow this with wins in Monaco and the Soviet Union.
Following the death of Niki Lauda at the Soviet Grand Prix, the battle for championship honours would now be fought between Reutemann Ferrari's Jody Scheckter.
Wins in Britain and Japan meant Reutemann was in the best position heading into the final race of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix.
At the season-ending Japanese Grand Prix, Scheckter would leap into the lead of the race at the beginning before a suspension failure seemingly consigning the championship to Reutemann. For much of the early stages of the race Reutemann held the lead but a suspension failure on the Argentine's McLaren M23 forced a retirement - meaning the driver's title would be returning to Maranello for a second year running in the hands of Jody Scheckter.
1977
Despite a successful 1976, Reutemann's 1977 did not start as well as he'd initially hoped, picking up in exactly the same manner as he left 1976 - farther off the pace than team-mate Tom Sneva. The American would go on to take one win and a close second place in the first four rounds of the season, with the Argentine taking only a third place and a fourth place. However, Reutemann's form would improve over the course of the year, taking two wins at the French and Italian Grands Prix on his way to third overall in the World Championship, albeit never in overall contention.
Despite Reutemann's strong finish to the year and improved form over the tail end of 1976, he would only receive offers from Hernandez and Williams in the off-season. When both of these deals fell through Reutemann found himself without a drive, and lacking motivation, decided to retire from the sport.
Later Life
Following his retirement from Grand Prix racing, Reutemann embarked on a career in politics - becoming a governor in his native Santa Fe province.
Complete Formula 1 Results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; Races in italics indicate fastest lap)| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Points | WDC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Marlboro Team McLaren | McLaren M23 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ARG Ret |
RSA 1 |
USW 2 |
ESP 4 |
BEL 2 |
MON 1 |
SOV 1 |
FRA Ret |
GBR 1 |
GER 6 |
AUT Ret |
NED Ret |
ITA Ret |
CAN 1 |
USA 4 |
JPN Ret |
64 | 2nd | |
| 1977 | Marlboro Team McLaren | McLaren M23B | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ARG 2 |
RSA Ret |
USW 4 |
ESP Ret |
BEL 4 |
MON 2 |
FRA 1 |
TUS 4 |
SOV Ret |
GBR 11† |
NED 4 |
GER 3 |
AUT Ret |
ITA 1 |
CAN 3 |
USA Ret |
JPN 4 |
50 | 3rd |