The original Grand Prix version of the circuit measures 3.780 km (2.349 mi). The lap begins on the pit straight in Victoria Park — a 500-meter stretch facing northwest — before drivers pass through the Senna Chicane, named after Ayrton Senna following his death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. From there, cars climb Wakefield Road to East Terrace and negotiate the first of three 90-degree corners before a fourth 90-degree turn onto Bartels Road.
The full Grand Prix layout bypasses the Bartels Road turn and continues through a sweeping left-right-right into Stag Turn (Turn 9), leading onto the Jones Straight (Rundle Road), named after Alan Jones in 1987. At the end of the lap stands the Brewery Bend sweeper, named after the Kent Town Brewery, opening onto Dequetteville Terrace.
The most celebrated section is the Dequetteville Terrace straight — also known as the Brabham Straight and, from 2007, the Brock Straight, honouring touring car legend Peter Brock. Stretching 900 meters, this section saw the turbocharged Formula One cars of 1985 to 1988 exceed 200 mph (320 km/h), making Adelaide the fastest street circuit of its era and far quicker than contemporaries such as Monaco, Detroit, and Phoenix. The lap concludes with a right-hand hairpin at the Britannia Roundabout, a sweeping right-hand curve back through Victoria Park, and a final hairpin onto the pit straight.
A shortened 3.219 km (2.000 mi) Supercars variant rejoins the Brabham Straight earlier, making the 640-meter Bartels Road section its longest straight. In 2017, construction of the O-Bahn Busway access and tunnel across the circuit required relocating turns 7 and 8 approximately 100 meters south, shortening the run from Turn 6 while extending the approach to Turn 9; the overall circuit length was unaffected.
A 1.4 km Victoria Park Sprint Circuit was also used from 2014 to 2018 and again from 2023 for the Adelaide Motorsport Festival. It turns right on Wakefield Street after the Senna Chicane before rejoining the main circuit at the final corners. Ivan Capelli holds the sprint circuit lap record, set on December 2, 2018, in a March CG891 from the 1989 Formula One season.
Adelaide was awarded a Formula One World Championship round in October 1984, with Macmahon Holdings constructing the circuit. The first grand prix was held in 1985 as the final event of the season. For eleven consecutive years the Australian Grand Prix closed out the Formula One calendar at Adelaide, producing some of the most memorable finales of the era. The record qualifying lap of the Grand Prix circuit is 1:13.371, set by Ayrton Senna in a McLaren MP4/8 Ford during qualifying for the 1993 Australian Grand Prix — a benchmark that stands as the fastest lap ever recorded at the venue, though it does not count as an official race lap record.
The Formula One rights moved to Melbourne's Albert Park Street Circuit after 1995. During the Formula One years, the circuit also hosted non-championship rounds for Group A and Group 3A touring cars.
From 1999 to 2020, the circuit hosted the Adelaide 500 for the Supercars Championship, run on the shorter 3.219 km layout. The event became one of the most celebrated on the Supercars calendar and is the only event inducted into the Supercars Hall of Fame. It typically opened the season. After a gap in 2021, the event returned in 2022 as the season finale. The fastest officially recorded lap on the Supercars circuit is 1:16.0357, set by Aaron Cameron on November 24, 2023, driving a Rogers AF01/V8 in the S5000 Australian Drivers' Championship.
The circuit hosted the Race of a Thousand Years, an American Le Mans Series event, in 2000 to mark the turn of the millennium. Numerous support categories have run at the circuit over the decades, including Australian Formula 3, Australian Formula Ford, S5000, and Stadium Super Trucks.
From 2027, the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix is scheduled to relocate from Phillip Island to Adelaide, using a heavily modified version of the Formula One circuit layout.
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