Argentine Grand Prix Betting

Although nearly 16 years have passed since Argentina last hosted a World Championship Grand Prix, the country’s impact on Formula One racing is undeniable. Its drivers have been a powerful force ever since the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) scheduled its inaugural F1 season in 1950. Most recently, Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has indicated an interest in reinstating the Argentine Grand Prix and race organisers have said they are not opposed to negotiations.

Argentina’s very first experience with staging major international race events was the Buenos Aires Grand Prix, a sportscar event conducted intermittently at the Circuito de la Costanera Norte on five occasions between 1930 and 1942. All editions were won by local drivers. After World War II, when the race was resumed in 1947, General Juan Perón was in office and Grand Prix cars competed biannually, first at the capital’s Retiro circuit and then on the Palermo course.

Italian drivers dominated the post-war competition, led by Luigi Villoresi scoring four straight victories in his Maserati 4CL. By 1950, Villoresi had added another win, complemented by his compatriot Alberto Ascari, who was triumphant on two occasions in 1949. The only Argentine to break the Italian stranglehold during that period was Óscar Alfredo Gálvez with a single success at Palermo.

Meanwhile, FIA was getting set to launch the first season of F1 Grand Prix racing in Europe and Italy’s Alfa Romeo was looking for a third team member to join Giuseppe Farina and Luigi Fagioli. They chose one of Argentina’s most experienced racers, Juan Manuel Fangio (1911~1995), a Buenos Aires native who would go on to become a legend in his own time. Although Farina won the inaugural event in Great Britain, along with the races in Switzerland and Italy, Fangio won the season’s second leg at Monaco, followed by victories in Belgium and France to narrowly miss beating teammate Farina in the final standings of the 1950 World Championship of Drivers.

In 1951, two more Argentine drivers joined the F1 Grand Prix circuit—José Froilán González driving for Ferrari and Onofre Marimón with Maserati. In fact, González won the British Grand Prix and earned enough points during the season to claim third place among all drivers in the final FIA standings. However, it was Fangio who won the championship title that season, highlighted by Grand Prix wins in Switzerland, France and Spain.

All this success led Argentina to apply for its own spot on the World Championship calendar and a new a motor racing circuit was constructed in Buenos Aires to host the first national Grand Prix. Then-President Juan Perón had the new 3.912-kilometer racing facility named “Autódromo 17 de Octubre” in reference to a date of great significance to his political party. As a warm-up in 1952, the course hosted three iterations of the Buenos Aires Grand Prix, two of which were won by González.

Then came the main attraction, as the Argentine Grand Prix kicked off FIA’s 1953 season on 18 January. Although Italians Ascari and Villoresi took the top two spots that day, González finished third and Gálvez took fifth. Then, Fangio, who had to retire early from the inaugural race with transmission trouble, stormed back to make the Argentine Grand Prix his own, winning the next four editions from 1954 through 1956.

Before the 20th and last iteration of the Argentine Grand Prix was won by Germany’s Michael Schumacher in 1998, the Buenos Aires circuit would change its name several times. From 1989 onward, it was known as “Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez,” although in 2008 the name was changed to “Autódromo Juan y Oscar Gálvez.” Fangio’s record of four Argentine Grand Prix wins was never broken, leaving two-time victors Emerson Fittipaldi of Brazil (1973, 1975) and Damon Hill of Great Britain (1995-96) far behind. Fangio also set the record for the most Buenos Aires Grand Prix victories on this track, claiming five wins between 1952 and 1958.

Go To bet365

#Ad

Related Events