The series grew from the earlier Premier 1 Grand Prix concept and received FIA approval in December 2005. The founding vision called for a grid of twenty identically prepared cars, each carrying the colours and badge of a football club, with the commercial and technical work handled centrally by the league to reduce costs for participating clubs. The inaugural season launched at Donington Park in 2008 and featured 18 clubs.
Every car in Superleague Formula was the Panoz DP09, built by Panoz Auto Development under the Élan Motorsport Technologies banner. Power came from a 4.2-litre V12 engine designed by Menard Competition Technologies, producing 750 bhp and capable of reaching 300 km/h. The cars met the same safety standards as 2008 Formula One machinery, used a Hewland six-speed sequential gearbox and ran on Michelin tyres. A "Push to Pass" system was introduced for the 2010 season, giving drivers access to 12,000 rpm — 1,000 rpm above the normal limit — for a minimum of 15 seconds, usable up to eight times per race.
Each round featured two 45-minute races on Sunday, with Race 2 run on a reverse grid. From 2009 a third "Super Final" race was added at selected events for the top six cars based on combined points from the two main races; from 2010 this counted for championship points at all rounds. Qualifying used a knockout format modelled on football tournament structures, with group stages leading to quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final to determine pole position.
The inaugural 2008 season was won by Beijing Guoan, represented by Italian driver Davide Rigon. Liverpool F.C., driven by Adrián Vallés, won the 2009 title. The 2010 season expanded to twelve race weekends and offered the largest prize fund in European single-seater racing at the time, with over €5 million available across the season including €1 million to the overall champion. Prominent drivers who appeared across the series' four seasons included Sébastien Bourdais, Robert Doornbos and Craig Dolby.
Twenty-three football clubs in total contested at least one race weekend across the series' four seasons. The 2008 grid included clubs such as Liverpool F.C., A.C. Milan, PSV Eindhoven, F.C. Porto, Sevilla FC and Borussia Dortmund. Over the following seasons additional clubs entered including FC Basel 1893, Rangers F.C., Olympiacos, Sporting CP, R.S.C. Anderlecht, Galatasaray and Tottenham Hotspur, among others. The Chinese partnership gave the series an early foothold outside traditional European motorsport markets.
By 2011 the football-club connection had substantially weakened, with fewer than half the remaining entries still associated with a recognisable club. Several race weekends were cancelled or relocated throughout the fourth season, and the series struggled to confirm a full calendar. After the conclusion of the truncated 2011 campaign, no further seasons were organised, the championship's website ceased updating, and the series was effectively discontinued after just four seasons of racing.
Superleague Formula was one of the most direct attempts to import football's global audience into motorsport, pre-dating later cross-sport commercial tie-up efforts. Its Panoz DP09 chassis was subsequently used in the Euroseries 3000, which later became the Auto GP series. The Menard V12 engine received a Motorsport Industry Association award for Technology and Innovation in January 2010. A licensed video game, Superleague Formula 2009: The Game, produced by Media Game and Image Space Incorporated, was released for PC in October 2009 and featured 18 clubs and six circuits from the 2009 season.