Racing around Mugello began on public roads in the 1920s. The original circuit used the SP503 and SR65 roads to link the villages of Scarperia, Firenzuola, Covigliaio and San Piero a Sieve in a loop of 66.2 km (41.1 mi). Giuseppe Campari won the event in 1920 and 1921, and Emilio Materassi took victories in 1925, 1926 and 1928. The Mugello Grand Prix was revived in 1955 and ran regularly from 1964 to 1969, during which time it counted toward the World Sportscar Championship in 1965, 1966 and 1967.
The final years of the road circuit were dominated by Porsche and Alfa Romeo machinery. The last World Sportscar round at Mugello, in 1967, was won by Udo Schütz and Gerhard Mitter in a Porsche 910. In 1968 Luciano Bianchi, Nanni Galli and Nino Vaccarella took the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 to victory, while Arturo Merzario won the 1969 and 1970 editions driving an Abarth 2000.
The road circuit's end came in 1970 when Spartaco Dini crashed his Alfa Romeo GTA into a group of spectators in Firenzuola during a private test on open roads, killing a seven-month-old baby and seriously injuring four others. Though racing on the closed roads had produced only one previous fatality — Günther Klass in 1967 — the off-race incident was decisive, and the 1970 race proved to be the last on the public road circuit.
The current closed Mugello circuit was constructed in 1973 and opened in 1974, situated approximately 5 km east of the original road course's easternmost section. The circuit features 15 turns, a 1.141 km (0.709 mi) main straight, and grandstand capacity of 50,000. It hosted European Formula Two and Italian Formula Three from its opening season, and the Italian motorcycle Grand Prix moved to Mugello in the 1970s. The San Marino motorcycle Grand Prix was also held at Mugello in 1982, 1984, 1991 and 1993.
Ferrari acquired the circuit in 1988 and has used it as the central facility for its Formula One testing programme ever since. The arrangement means Mugello receives intensive use between race weekends and is maintained to the highest standards.
The Italian motorcycle Grand Prix has been a regular fixture at Mugello for the MotoGP era, and the circuit is regarded as one of the most demanding on the calendar. Its long straight — where top speeds routinely exceed 340 km/h — combined with the tight Variante del Casello chicane, the fast San Donato right-hander and the Arrabbiata corners creates a circuit that rewards both outright power and chassis precision. The event typically draws enormous tifosi support, with the circuit accessible from Florence.
The 2021 Italian Grand Prix was overshadowed by tragedy when Moto3 rider Jason Dupasquier crashed at Arrabbiata 2 during qualifying. The 19-year-old Swiss rider was struck by the bikes of Jeremy Alcoba and Ayumu Sasaki and was airlifted to Careggi hospital in Florence with life-threatening injuries; he died the following day after emergency thoracic surgery.
Despite Ferrari's long ownership, Mugello did not host a Formula One World Championship race until 2020. The 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix was added to the calendar after the COVID-19 pandemic forced a restructuring of the season, and it served simultaneously as the 1000th World Championship Grand Prix for Scuderia Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton won the race and set the official circuit lap record of 1:18.833. Hamilton also set the unofficial all-time track record of 1:15.144 during qualifying for the same event.
During a 2012 in-season test at Mugello, Romain Grosjean set an unofficial track record of 1:21.035. The circuit drew strong praise from drivers: Sebastian Vettel remarked that Mugello was "an incredible circuit with a lot of high-speed corners" that was unfortunate not to be on the permanent calendar, while Mark Webber described ten dry laps there as equivalent in satisfaction to 1,000 laps of Abu Dhabi.
Mugello holds three-star FIA Environmental Accreditation and carries ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001 and ISO 20121 certifications. It was ranked the most sustainable racetrack in the world in a 2021 sustainability report.