Giacomelli began in Formula Italia, which he won in 1975. In 1976 he moved to Formula Three with March, finishing runner-up to Rupert Keegan in the B.A.R.C Championship and winning the B.R.D.C. title. He also led from start to finish in a March-Toyota in the 1976 Monaco Grand Prix Formula Three support race at an average speed of 74.84 mph.
Giacomelli graduated to Formula Two in 1977, working closely with Robin Herd and the March factory. He retired from the Formula Two Pau Grand Prix in May 1977 after contact with Jacques Laffite. He nonetheless scored three F2 wins in 1977 — at Vallelunga, Mugello, and Donington Park — and finished fifth in the championship. That year he also made his Formula One World Championship debut, driving a third works McLaren M23-Cosworth at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, retiring with an engine problem after spinning off.
In the 1978 season Giacomelli dominated Formula Two. He won eight of the twelve races and took the title, beating runner-up Marc Surer by 29 points. He also entered five Formula One races for McLaren when his F2 commitments allowed, achieving a best finish of seventh at the British Grand Prix.
For 1979 Giacomelli joined Alfa Romeo for their return to building Formula One cars. The team entered their 177 and 179 cars in only a handful of events, and his best result was 17th at the French Grand Prix.
The 1980 season produced flashes of speed. He qualified sixth for Alfa Romeo at Brands Hatch for the British Grand Prix and third at Imola for the Italian Grand Prix. Before the Italian Grand Prix, three of his six mechanics were injured when their helicopter crashed en route to the circuit. He won pole position for the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen with a time of 1:33.29 over the 3.37-mile track, improving on his opening day time by 1.25 seconds. Despite these qualifying performances, mechanical failures and crashes meant he finished only three of fourteen races; two fifth-place finishes, at the Argentine Grand Prix and the German Grand Prix, earned four points and a 16th-place championship finish.
In 1981 the car was more reliable, and Giacomelli was classified in eight of fifteen races. His strongest results came at the season's end: fourth in Canada and third at the Caesars Palace Grand Prix — his only Formula One podium — leaving him 15th in the Drivers' Championship, his best-ever finish.
For 1982 Alfa introduced the 182 chassis, which was unreliable early in the year but stable enough in the second half for Giacomelli to finish all but two races. Only one points finish resulted, a fifth in Germany. At the start of the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder, his Alfa Romeo collided with the two ATS cars of Eliseo Salazar and Manfred Winkelhock.
Alfa Romeo recruited Mauro Baldi to partner Andrea de Cesaris for 1983, and Giacomelli joined Toleman. He was outperformed by teammate Derek Warwick, though he did score a final Formula One point at the European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch.
Giacomelli served as test driver for the Leyton House March team in 1988 and 1989, and again in 1990 in its Leyton House incarnation. He declined an offered test driver role with McLaren for 1990.
In 1990 he returned to Formula One with Life, taking over from Gary Brabham after two races. The car carried an ineffectual and fragile W12 engine and struggled to get within 20 seconds of pole time at many circuits; Giacomelli failed to get out of pre-qualifying at any of his 12 Grands Prix with the team. At the Portuguese Grand Prix the team switched to a Judd V8 engine, but the car had not been adapted for it and the engine cover could not be properly fitted, forcing withdrawal without completing a single lap. When Giacomelli drove the Judd-powered car in Spain he was still 18 seconds off the pace. With finances exhausted and the car noncompetitive, the team folded before the final two races of the season.
Giacomelli made 11 starts in CART in 1984 and 1985, ten with Patrick Racing. His best finish was fifth at the 1985 Meadowlands street course race. He attempted but failed to qualify for the 1984 Indianapolis 500.
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