The race was first held in 1925 under the name Premio Reale di Roma, a title it retained until 1932. After the Second World War the event resumed in 1947 as the Gran Premio di Roma and continued in that form until 1991. Through its decades of competition, the Rome Grand Prix adopted a variety of regulations and circuit configurations, with the majority of postwar editions run to Formula Two rules at the ACI Vallelunga Circuit north of Rome.
In 1954 and again in 1963, the Rome Grand Prix was held to Formula One technical regulations, although neither edition was included in the Formula One World Championship points table. These non-championship Formula One appearances nevertheless attracted significant entries from top-level teams and drivers of the respective eras.
The most historically significant edition of the Rome Grand Prix took place in 1947, when the race became the scene of Ferrari's first victory with a car of their own construction. The Ferrari 125 S, a 1.5-litre supercharged V12 sports car, won the event that year, marking the beginning of what would become the most successful constructor in the history of motor racing. The 1947 Rome Grand Prix therefore holds a unique place in automotive and motorsport history as the debut win for the Scuderia Ferrari.
In 1985, the Rome area was considered as a possible venue for the European Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship, with a proposed race date of 6 October in the EUR district of the city. That race was ultimately moved to Brands Hatch in the United Kingdom and the Roman event did not take place. In the late 2000s, renewed discussions emerged about adding a Rome street circuit to the Formula One calendar, with the EUR district again proposed as the location for a race targeted for 2013. Concerns about the impact on the Italian Grand Prix at Monza and opposition from local residents eventually caused those plans to be abandoned in early 2011.
Despite the failure of the Formula One bid, Rome's motorsport ambitions were realised through a different series: since 2018, Formula E has held the Rome ePrix in the EUR district, making use of sections of the route that had been proposed for the Formula One race. The transition from the historic Gran Premio di Roma to the modern electric Rome ePrix reflects the circuit's long association with high-profile racing on the streets of the Italian capital.
The Rome Grand Prix's most enduring significance lies in its 1947 edition and the role it played in confirming Ferrari as a constructor in their own right. Beyond that landmark, the race served for decades as a credible fixture in the Italian motorsport calendar, offering competition across multiple formula categories and contributing to the development of circuits and talent in the Rome region. Its eventual disappearance from the calendar after 1991 closed a chapter that had begun in the mid-1920s, though the tradition of racing in Rome has continued through the Formula E era.