1958 Argentine Grand Prix

Report

A change in fuel regulations that banned alcohol and methanol meant that the re-tuning of British teams Vanwall and BRM engines would not be ready in time for the long trip to the Argentine race held in mid-January, four months ahead of the second race of the season in Monaco. Teams and engine suppliers that not only were racing in F1 but also with sports cars had more experience with using also regular gasoline.

As a result, his race had the fewest entries (10) of any Grand Prix in the history of the F1 World Championship. Vanwall released Moss to compete with another team and he linked up with the Rob Walker Racing Team to drive their Cooper T43, a car about to be superseded at the factory Cooper team by the new T45.

With the race set to be held in very hot conditions, as in the 1955 Argentine Grand Prix, it was shortened from 400 kilometres to 313. The shorter race led the Walker team to consider running the race without stopping for tyres. The car's four stud wheels would take the time of almost two laps to complete a four tyre change, much slower than their Ferrari and Maserati rivals with Centerlock wheels. Moss and his team began a deception, complaining about the tyre situation and how much time they would lose changing tyres.

Jean Behra in a privateer Maserati 250F led at the start but was quickly passed by Hawthorn. By lap ten Juan Manuel Fangio had taken the lead in the Scuderia Sud Americana entered Maserati 250F and Moss had worked his way forward into second position as the pitstops began for the heavier Italian built cars.

After the pitstops Moss led from Musso and Hawthorn. Behra was delayed by a spin and Fangio by a misfire. With ten laps remaining the others realized Moss was not going to pit at all, and Musso and Hawthorn picked up the pace to catch. Moss' tyres were disintegrating but there was enough with careful driving that Moss limped to the line for a remarkable victory. Behind the two Ferraris Fangio was the first Maserati to finish. Behra, two laps down, scored the remaining points. Harry Schell was next ahead of Fangio's teammate Carlos Menditeguy, both Maserati 250F mounted. Peter Collins was the only retirement of the ten entries having stopped on the opening lap with a broken axle in the third Ferrari.

It was the first F1 victory for a rear-engined car but for the moment it would be an aberration brought on by hot weather and tactics that took maximum advantage of reduced tyre wear in the better balanced mid-engine car. It was not yet obvious that the death of the front-engined F1 car was just a year away, as 1958 was the last year a driver won the World Championship with one.

Classification

Qualifying

Race

;Notes

• – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

Notes

• This was Juan Manuel Fangio's 29th pole position, setting a new record that would only be broken by Jim Clark at the 1967 Canadian Grand Prix.
• This was Juan Manuel Fangio's 23rd fastest lap, setting a new record that equally would be broken by Jim Clark at the 1967 Dutch Grand Prix.

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings

;Constructors' Championship standings

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

Name_of_race = Argentine Grand Prix | Year_of_race = 1958 | Previous_race_in_season = 1957 Italian Grand Prix | Next_race_in_season = 1958 Monaco Grand Prix | Previous_year's_race = 1957 Argentine Grand Prix | Next_year's_race = 1960 Argentine Grand Prix}}

References

1. (more exactly [[Shades of blue#Space cadet. Space cadet's shade]] as formulated in 2007
2. Williamson, Martin. "One-eyed Moss claims first win for Cooper". ESPN Sports Media Ltd..
3. (15 February 2010). "All My Races". Haynes Publishing.
4. "Grand Prix Results: Argentine GP, 1958". Inside F1, Inc..
5. Marshall, Ewan. (16 June 2011). "Argentina '58: Moss fools competitors to make history". GPFocus.com.
6. (26 September 2019). "1958 Argentine Grand Prix – Qualifying". [[Motorsport.com.
7. "1958 Argentine Grand Prix". formula1.com.
8. "Argentina 1958 - Championship • STATS F1".