The circuit opened in 1953 as the Autodromo di Imola, originally as a semi-permanent venue without chicanes. The first motorcycle races were held in April 1953, with car racing following in June 1954. In its original high-speed configuration, the lap flowed through long straights connected by a handful of sweeping corners, making it exceptionally quick.
Imola appeared on the Grand Prix motorcycle racing calendar intermittently through the 1960s and 1970s, hosting the Italian motorcycle Grand Prix in 1969, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1979, and 1988, as well as the San Marino motorcycle Grand Prix in 1981 and 1983. The Imola 200, a prominent endurance race held between 1972 and 1985, also brought the circuit international attention during this period.
The circuit later hosted the City of Imola motorcycle Grand Prix from 1996 to 1999 before its disappearance from the two-wheeled world championship calendar for several years.
Through the 1980s and 1990s, the flat-out Tamburello corner became a focal point of safety concerns. Its combination of high speed, bumpy surface, and minimal run-off — bounded by a concrete wall adjacent to the Santerno river — produced a series of severe accidents. Nelson Piquet crashed there in 1987 after a tyre failure; Gerhard Berger's Ferrari caught fire after a 300 km/h impact in 1989.
The 1994 San Marino Formula One Grand Prix brought the circuit to the centre of motorsport's most tragic weekend, with Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna both dying during the event. In the aftermath, Tamburello was converted from a flat-out left-hander to a left-right-left chicane, and Villeneuve corner was similarly slowed. These changes fundamentally altered the circuit's character.
The Superbike World Championship began visiting Imola in 2001, and the circuit hosted the series until 2006 before returning in 2009 and continuing annually for over a decade. The combination of fast flowing sections and technical chicanes has made Imola consistently competitive for production-based superbike machinery.
From 2007, the circuit underwent extensive reconstruction overseen by architect Hermann Tilke — pit lane, paddock, and facilities were completely rebuilt. The FIA granted the renovated track Grade 1 homologation in 2011. Formula One returned for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix from 2020, cementing Imola's renewed status as an active international circuit.
The FIM Motocross World Championship finale has been held at Imola since 2018, adding another international discipline to the calendar. The circuit also hosts rounds of the WEC 6 Hours of Imola and European Le Mans Series.
The official Formula One lap record stands at 1:15.484, set by Lewis Hamilton during the 2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. The unofficial all-time track record of 1:13.609 was set by Valtteri Bottas in qualifying for the same event.
Imola is considered one of the home circuits of Scuderia Ferrari, whose base in Maranello lies nearby. Its dual identity — a place of tragedy in 1994 and a symbol of European motorsport heritage — gives the circuit a weight that few other venues carry. The circuit's president, Giancarlo Minardi, links the venue to the Minardi Formula One team based in the Emilia-Romagna region for many years.