Amati was born in Rome on 20 July 1959. Her mother was actress Anna Maria Pancani, and her father was Giovanni Amati, a theatre-chain owner. From a young age, Amati developed a passion for cars and expressed a desire to attend a motor racing academy.
At the age of 18, Amati was kidnapped for ransom on 12 February 1978. Three gangsters, led by Jean Daniel Nieto, forcibly removed her from a car near her parents' villa in Rome and took her away in a van. She was initially held near her parents' home before being moved to a remote location after police visited the initial house. Amati was kept in a wooden cage for 75 days and experienced physical and mental abuse, though Nieto occasionally offered comfort.
On 27 April 1978, Amati was released after an 800 million-lira ransom (equivalent to $933,000 at the time) was paid. Due to an Italian policy of freezing assets belonging to the families of kidnapped individuals to combat organised crime, Amati's parents raised the ransom by using box office receipts from the film Star Wars, selling family jewellery, and borrowing from their servants' life savings.
Nieto, a French citizen, was later arrested after a police-arranged meeting with Amati. Following his release, newspapers published stories detailing Amati's Stockholm syndrome and a strong emotional relationship between her and her captor, claims which Amati herself denied. Nieto was sentenced to 18 years in prison. He escaped in 1989 and remained a fugitive until his re-arrest in April 2010.
To hone her driving skills, Amati attended a motor racing school alongside her friend, Elio de Angelis. Her professional racing career began in 1981 in the Formula Abarth series, where she secured multiple wins over the next four years. In 1985–86, she advanced to Italian Formula Three, achieving a successful campaign with several victories.
In 1987, Amati moved up to Formula 3000, entering three races but only qualifying once at Donington. She continued in F3000 in 1988 with Lola, securing two tenth-place finishes at Monza and Jerez. A brief move to Japan in 1989 saw her compete in the Super Formula Championship with limited success. Amati returned to Europe for the International F3000 series in 1990. She raced with Roni Motorsports in a Reynard 90D Cosworth for the first four rounds, then moved to Lola for round five, and finally to Cobra Motorsports for the remaining five races. During a test session before the Brands Hatch race in 1990, Amati was involved in a collision with British driver Phil Andrews, with both reporting minor injuries.
In 1991, Amati joined GJ Motorsports, driving a Reynard 91D Cosworth for the full season. She qualified for six rounds and achieved several non-point-paying top-ten finishes, though she did not score any points. By the end of 1991, Amati tested a Formula One car for the first time, completing 30 laps in a Benetton.
In January 1992, Amati signed with the Brabham team to partner Eric van de Poele. This occurred after the team was unable to secure Japanese F3000 driver Akihiko Nakaya, who was denied a superlicence by the FIA because the Japanese F3000 series was not recognised as a stepping stone in motor racing. Amati became the fifth and last woman Formula One driver, and the first female driver to enter a Formula One race since Desiré Wilson in 1980. Her announcement generated significant publicity for the struggling Brabham team.
Amati's inexperience was evident during the first round in South Africa. She spun six times during practice and failed to qualify, setting a time nine seconds slower than pole sitter Nigel Mansell and four seconds slower than her teammate van de Poele. Mechanics were still working on her seat during this event.
At the Mexican Grand Prix, Amati again failed to qualify, with a time more than 10 seconds slower than Mansell. Her final attempt to qualify a Formula One car was in Brazil. Both Amati and van de Poele were excluded from the race, lapping 10 and 6 seconds slower than Mansell, respectively. Brabham subsequently dismissed Amati and replaced her with Damon Hill, who would later become the 1996 World Champion. Hill failed to qualify for the next five races before successfully putting the car on the grid for the 1992 British Grand Prix, though he was over eight seconds slower than pole sitter Mansell. As of 2025, Giovanna Amati remains the last female driver to have attempted to qualify a Formula One car.
After her Formula One tenure, Amati competed in the Porsche SuperCup in 1993, where she won the Women's European Championship. From 1994 to 1996, she raced in the Ferrari Challenge. Following a sabbatical in 1997, she returned in 1998 with a Ferrari 355. That year, she also raced in the International Sports Racing Series, driving an Alfa Romeo Giudici Gaiero SPN. Amati competed in the 1998 Sebring 12 Hours in a BMW M3 alongside Craig Carter and Andy Petery, but the team retired due to clutch issues. She also entered the 1000 km of Monza with Loic Depailler, Marco Lucchinelli, and Xavier Pompidou, but they were unable to start. Amati later finished 11th at Le Mans in a two-hour race, driving with Guido Knycz and Giovanni Gulinelli. In 1999, Amati raced in the SportsRacing World Cup, driving a Tampolli SR2 RTA-99 for the Cauduro Tampolli team alongside Angelo Lancelotti in the SR2 class. She finished third in the SR2 class at the end of the year.
Following her retirement from motorsport, Amati briefly worked as a sport commentator, writing columns for Italian motorsport publications and providing television commentary.