The circuit was built in 1960 by Jean Bernigaud and became home to the prestigious Winfield racing school (Ecole de Pilotage Winfield), which produced prominent drivers including Francois Cevert, Jacques Laffite, and Didier Pironi. The circuit opened on 7 August 1960. By the 1980s the track had fallen into disrepair and was not used for international motor racing until it was purchased by the Conseil Departemental de la Nievre in 1986, after which significant investment transformed it into a Formula One-standard venue.
Before the 2003 redesign, the circuit measured a slightly different length and retained its original final corner and chicane configuration. The track was characterised by a mix of slow hairpins and high-speed chicane sections, including a long fast straight feeding into the first-gear Adelaide hairpin — historically the best overtaking opportunity on the circuit. Unusually, many corners were modelled on famous turns from other circuits and named accordingly: the fast Estoril corner (turn 3), the Adelaide hairpin (turn 5), and the Nurburgring and Imola chicanes (turns 7 and 12 respectively).
The circuit as a whole was flat, with negligible elevation change save for a small valley at the Estoril corner and a slight hill near the Lycee corner. This flatness, combined with the layout's limited overtaking opportunities, gave races at Magny-Cours a processional reputation during the Formula One era, with most position changes occurring during pit stop sequences rather than on-track.
Magny-Cours first hosted the Formula One French Grand Prix in 1991, succeeding the Circuit Paul Ricard. The Ligier Formula One team and its successor Prost were based at the circuit during the 1990s and conducted much of their testing there, giving the venue particular significance in French motorsport during that decade.
The 1999 French Grand Prix stood out as a notable exception to the circuit's usual processional character. Both qualifying and the race saw a fully wet track, and after a restart following a heavy downpour, most top contenders encountered problems that allowed Heinz-Harald Frentzen to claim a surprising victory in his Jordan.
For the 2003 French Grand Prix, the final corner and chicane were changed in an effort to increase overtaking opportunities. The modification produced little practical improvement in on-track action. Michael Schumacher won the 2004 French Grand Prix using an unprecedented four-stop strategy, and in 2006 became the first driver to win any single Formula One Grand Prix eight times at the same circuit — both achievements coming under the revised post-2003 layout.
The old layout's tenure coincided with the height of French Formula One involvement, hosting grands prix through the Williams, Ferrari, and McLaren championship battles of the 1990s and early 2000s. The circuit as a whole continued hosting major events after Formula One departed following the 2008 race. The post-2003 layout remains in use today for the Superbike World Championship, various GT series, and national championships, preserving the venue's place in European motorsport. The current circuit measures 4.411 km and retains the fundamentally flat, corner-named character established in its original design.