Born on 12 April 1942, Reutemann was descended from a Swiss-German grandfather, an Argentine father, and an Italian mother. He was the first successful Argentine Formula One driver to emerge since the retirement of five-time World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio in 1958. He first raced in 1965 in a Fiat saloon car, then contested touring cars and Formula 2 in Argentina before moving to Europe in 1970 to drive for the Automobile Club of Argentina Team in the European Formula 2 series.
At his first race at Hockenheim, he took out Austrian Formula One driver Jochen Rindt—that year's eventual posthumous World Champion—on the first lap, then recovered to finish fourth. In 1971 he finished a close second in the European Formula 2 series behind Ronnie Peterson.
Brabham team boss Bernie Ecclestone signed Reutemann to partner veteran and two-time World Champion Graham Hill for the 1972 season. At his debut Grand Prix in Buenos Aires, Reutemann qualified his Brabham BT34 on pole position—a feat previously achieved only by Mario Andretti and since matched only by Jacques Villeneuve. He finished seventh after pitting to replace soft tyres; his first notable victory that year came in the non-championship Interlagos Grand Prix.
Teamed with Brazilian Wilson Fittipaldi Júnior in 1973, Reutemann scored two podiums and finished seventh in the standings driving the Gordon Murray-designed BT42. For 1974, Murray produced the improved BT44, and Reutemann claimed the first three victories of his F1 career in South Africa, Austria, and the United States. Despite matching Drivers' Champion Emerson Fittipaldi's win total, inconsistent results left him sixth. In 1975, five podiums—including a win at the old 14-mile Nürburgring—placed him third in the championship.
Brabham switched to the Alfa Romeo flat-12 engine for 1976 and suffered severe reliability problems. After seven retirements in twelve races, Reutemann negotiated a release to join Ferrari as a temporary replacement for the injured Niki Lauda. Lauda's unexpected recovery meant Reutemann raced only once for the team, in a third car at Monza, then sat out the final three races.
For 1977, Ferrari opted to keep the recovered Lauda and had Reutemann replace Clay Regazzoni, who moved on to the Ensign team. Reutemann finished third in Argentina and won in Brazil in the opening two races, outdriving Lauda in both and taking the championship lead. He later described the Brazilian Grand Prix as his best race, noting that Ferrari had fitted a new rear wing to his car but not Lauda's, giving him a performance advantage. Over the course of the season, however, Lauda reaffirmed team leadership and won his second championship; Reutemann finished fourth. His relationship with Ferrari chief engineer Mauro Forghieri was strained, as Forghieri was often frustrated by Reutemann's temperament.
When Lauda moved to Brabham in 1978, Reutemann became the senior Ferrari driver alongside the young Canadian Gilles Villeneuve. He won in Brazil, at Brands Hatch in Britain, and twice in the United States—at Long Beach and Watkins Glen—for four victories in total, his most successful season in terms of wins. The Brands Hatch victory came after Lauda was held up by backmarker Bruno Giacomelli and Reutemann passed him for the lead at Clearways. Yet the Lotus team, once the new Lotus 79 appeared at Monaco, proved dominant; Reutemann finished third in the standings behind Andretti and Peterson. He also had a major accident at the Spanish Grand Prix after a tyre failure and a collision with Jacques Laffite sent his Ferrari over the Armco barrier and into the debris fencing.
With a vacancy at Lotus following the death of Ronnie Peterson, Reutemann moved from Ferrari to Lotus for 1979. The first races yielded second places in Argentina and Spain plus third places in Brazil and Monaco. As the season progressed, however, the team struggled while Jody Scheckter won the title for Ferrari. After four podiums in the first seven races, Reutemann ended the season seventh. The move proved poorly timed: Ferrari had introduced the 312T4, which enabled its drivers to finish first and second in the final standings.
Joining Williams for 1980 put Reutemann back in a competitive car—the FW07. The season opened badly: at the first race in Buenos Aires, engine failure ended his home Grand Prix and Reutemann, in full view of the 80,000 spectators and television cameras, removed his helmet, sat beside his car, and wept. The season recovered as he won at Monaco and recorded eight podiums, finishing third in the championship. Williams, with partner Alan Jones as the number-one driver, won their first Constructors' Championship with a then-record 120 points.
The 1981 season was defined by team tensions. Early in the season, Reutemann disobeyed team orders by refusing to let Jones win in Brazil; Jones never forgave the act, while Reutemann felt his contribution—including having given Jones the victory at Long Beach—went unacknowledged. Reutemann won in Brazil and Belgium and consistently outscored Jones. Later in Germany, Reutemann was ordered to hand over his car to Jones following the latter's mechanical failure and had to race the spare; his own engine then failed, costing him points from a qualifying position of third.
At the season-ending race in Las Vegas, Reutemann arrived with a one-point lead over Brazilian Nelson Piquet and started from pole, ahead of Jones. At the start, Jones leapt into the lead and Reutemann was quickly passed by Villeneuve, Alain Prost, and Giacomelli. On lap 17, Piquet overtook Reutemann for seventh at the last left-hander before the pits. Reutemann suffered gearbox trouble—losing fourth gear as early as lap two—and continued to slip backwards. He finished eighth, a lap down; Piquet took the title by one point. The season-opening South African race had been run as a non-championship Formula Libre event that Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Renault, and Ligier had not attended; had championship points been awarded, Reutemann would have won the title with 58 points against Piquet's 56.
Reutemann returned for 1982, finishing second in South Africa—the only Cosworth-engined car able to challenge the more powerful turbocharged Renaults. Following the outbreak of the Falklands War, he retired from Formula One after the Brazilian Grand Prix. Williams Chief Designer Patrick Head later stated that he believed the war was only an excuse and that Reutemann had simply lost his appetite for racing.
In a 1984 pre-season test at Paul Ricard, Reutemann drove a Ligier JS21 modified to evaluate the Renault Gordini EF4 V6 turbo, using the helmet of Michel Ferté. This was his only post-retirement test.
While still active in Formula One, Reutemann was approached by Fiat and drove a Fiat 131 in the inaugural 1980 Codasur Rally, finishing third. In 1985 he drove a Peugeot 205 T16 in the Argentinian Rally, again finishing third. He became the second Formula One driver after Leo Kinnunen to stand on the podium of a World Rally Championship event. He held that distinction for three decades, until Kimi Räikkönen's eighth place at the 2010 Jordan Rally.
After retiring from racing, Reutemann joined the Justicialist Party of Santa Fe. He won the governorship of Santa Fe twice, serving one four-year term from 1991 to 1995 and a second from 1999 to 2003. During his second term the province navigated the nationwide economic crash of 2001 with a conservative fiscal policy, avoiding the quasi-currency bonds that left other provinces heavily indebted. He declined on several occasions to run for the Argentine presidency, including ahead of the 2011 general election.
Reutemann won a seat in the National Senate in 2003 and was re-elected in 2009 and 2015. On 1 January 2006 he was named Commendatore della Repubblica by Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.
He suffered an intestinal haemorrhage in May 2021. His condition deteriorated through anaemia, dehydration, hypoalbuminaemia, haemodynamic instability, and rapid weight loss. He died on 7 July 2021 at the age of 79 in a medical facility in Santa Fe. His daughter announced his death on social media.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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