F1 legend Carlos Reutemann who sadly passed away on Wednesday at 79 enjoyed a spectacular entry onto the F1 scene in 1972.
For his F1 debut in Argentina, Reutemann was entrusted with a Brabham BT34 by team owner Bernie Ecclestone who logically felt that his new protégé's baptism of fire would perhaps be less difficult if it took place on a track he knew like the back of his hand.
While Reutemann did indeed have track knowledge - and a massive local support - as an advantage, Brabham's BT34 was anything put a front-running car.
But Reutemann made the most, and then some, of the machine's potential when he blitzed the field in qualifying and snatched pole, a feat that only the great Mario Andretti had achieved before him, at Watkins Glen in 1968.
As a measure of the moody Argentinean's remarkable accomplishment, Brabham teammate Graham Hill – arguably well in the twilight of his career – had only qualified 16th.
At the start, Reutemann was passed by future winner Jackie Stewart, but F1's sensational rookie might have given the Tyrrell driver a run for his money had Bernie not insisted on his new driver running Goodyear's softest compound that degraded in short order and forced the rookie into a lengthy pitstop and tyre change.
Reutemann only finished P7 and just outside the points in the Argentine GP in Buenos Aires. But the world of Formula 1 was put on notice.
