Oscar and Juan Gálvez Race Track

Motorsport venue in Argentina

The Many Shapes of Buenos Aires

Built on reclaimed swampland at the southern edge of Buenos Aires, the Autódromo staged twenty Argentine Grands Prix over five decades, four of them won by Juan Manuel Fangio.

The racetrack in Buenos Aires has changed its name almost as often as its shape. Juan Perón was president when it was built in 1952 on marshy ground in Villa Riachuelo, the most southerly barrio in the city, and it opened as the Autódromo 17 de Octubre, a nod to Loyalty Day. That name lasted only until Perón was overthrown. Several more came and went before the circuit settled on honoring two racing brothers, Juan and Oscar Alfredo Gálvez. The land is flat and lined with large grandstands, so most spectators can follow the cars for nearly the whole lap.

Variety is its signature. The ground can be arranged into a great many layouts, and Formula One tried several of them. The Argentine Grand Prix arrived in 1953 with a Ferrari victory for Alberto Ascari, and through the 1950s the race belonged to Juan Manuel Fangio, whose four wins at home are still the record here. Stirling Moss won in 1958 and Bruce McLaren in 1960.

When the championship came back in 1972, the circuit grew braver. From 1974 to 1981 Formula One raced on the No. 15 layout, a very quick version that added two long straights linked by a sweeping corner often taken flat in top gear at about 305 kilometers per hour, roughly 40 seconds in which the drivers' right feet had nothing to decide. Then, for 1982, the race disappeared, after the invasion of the Falklands and the abrupt retirement of Carlos Reutemann.

Formula One returned in 1995 to the twisty No. 6 configuration, which never won the sport's affection. Damon Hill won the first two of those races for Williams, Jacques Villeneuve the third, and Michael Schumacher the last, for Ferrari in 1998. Then the money ran out and the Argentine Grand Prix fell off the calendar, after 20 championship rounds between 1953 and 1998. The Autódromo has stayed busy with national touring car racing, and a major redevelopment is planned to bring motorcycle Grand Prix racing back in 2027.

Every Grand Prix here

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