Motor racing in the Estoril area dates to the 1930s, when a 2.8 km street circuit was used in 1937 for a local race. The current circuit was built and completed in 1972 on elevated terrain featuring two hairpin turns, noticeable elevation changes, and a 0.986 km start-finish straight, with an original perimeter of 4.349 km and a maximum gradient approaching 7%. During the 1980s the Rally de Portugal also held a special stage at the venue.
The circuit fell into disrepair after the owning company was nationalised between 1975 and 1978, and significant redevelopment was necessary before international motorsport returned in 1984 when Formula One brought the Portuguese Grand Prix to Estoril. Its early years had seen national races and occasional Formula 2 events.
Estoril hosted the Portuguese Grand Prix for thirteen consecutive seasons, from 1984 to 1996, becoming one of the most memorable venues on the F1 calendar. Several landmark moments occurred there. In 1984, Niki Lauda secured his third and final World Championship at Estoril by finishing second to his McLaren teammate Alain Prost, winning the title by half a point in the closest championship finish in the sport's history to that point. In 1985, Ayrton Senna claimed his first Formula One World Championship victory at the circuit. In 1989, Nigel Mansell received a black flag for an infringement and subsequently collided with Senna. In 1992, Riccardo Patrese was launched airborne in a near-backward flip after colliding with Gerhard Berger on the main straight. In 1996, Jacques Villeneuve overtook Michael Schumacher around the outside of the final turn.
After the death of Ayrton Senna at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, a chicane was added to Estoril, increasing the circuit length to 4.360 km. The circuit sometimes experienced strong crosswinds. Many teams valued it as a winter testing venue.
Estoril was dropped from the F1 calendar for the 1997 season following safety inspection failures. In 2000, a redesign of the parabolica turn reduced the circuit to its current 4.182 km to obtain FIM homologation for motorcycle racing, and on 3 September 2000 the circuit held its first Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix, a race that ran annually at the venue until 2012.
Beyond Formula One and MotoGP, Estoril hosted a wide range of international series including the FIA GT Championship, the DTM, the Superbike World Championship, the World Touring Car Championship, the FIM Endurance World Championship, Formula 3000, and Superleague Formula. In 2005 it hosted the third round of the inaugural A1 Grand Prix season, with both races won by the French team. During the COVID-19 pandemic-driven schedule reshuffles of 2020, the circuit hosted the final round of the Superbike World Championship and the final round of the FIM Endurance World Championship.
The circuit today regularly hosts the Superbike World Championship, the Supersport World Championship, and various GT and endurance series.
Estoril holds a distinctive place in Formula One history as a circuit where championship titles were decided, new champions emerged, and high-profile incidents became part of the sport's narrative. Its combination of technical corners and a fast main straight, set against a hillside landscape outside Lisbon, made it one of the more challenging and photogenic venues of the 1980s and 1990s. The circuit's continued activity as an international motorsport venue after losing its F1 slot reflects the durability of the facility itself, even as the sport moved on to newer circuits.