The race served as a celebration of Ferrari's 1000th entry in the Formula One World Championship. To mark the occasion the safety car appeared in red rather than its usual silver, while the Ferrari SF1000 ran a special dark-burgundy finish in place of the traditional rosso corsa. Both Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc wore specially designed race overalls and helmets. The 2020 season had been heavily disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with most originally scheduled rounds cancelled or postponed and the preceding eight events held entirely behind closed doors. Organisers announced that up to 2,880 spectators would be permitted to attend the Tuscan Grand Prix, making it the first race of the season with any public attendance. Pirelli supplied the three hardest available compounds — C1, C2, and C3 — for tyre choice.
The event was marked by an unusually high number of incidents and interruptions. On the opening lap at turn 2, a collision involving Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly, Kimi Räikkönen, and Romain Grosjean forced Gasly and Verstappen to retire and sent Räikkönen to the pits for a new front wing. A separate incident at the same corner saw Carlos Sainz Jr. spin into Sebastian Vettel's car, bringing out the safety car.
On lap 6, as the safety car pulled in, an accordion effect developed in the midfield. Drivers at the back of the pack accelerated to racing speed before the leaders did, then had to brake sharply, triggering a second collision that eliminated Sainz, Kevin Magnussen, Antonio Giovinazzi, and Nicholas Latifi. Romain Grosjean publicly blamed race leader Valtteri Bottas for causing the concertina effect, though former GP2 champion Jolyon Palmer's subsequent analysis concluded Bottas was not at fault. Esteban Ocon also retired during the resulting red-flag period with a brake failure; George Russell had earlier warned by radio that Ocon's brakes appeared to be on fire.
A second red flag was shown on lap 45 after Lance Stroll suffered a tyre failure at turn 9 on lap 43, crashed into the barrier, and his Racing Point RP20 caught fire, complicating the marshals' efforts to clear the track. The race therefore featured two red flags — the first occurrence since the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix — and required three standing starts in total.
Hamilton won from Bottas, completing a Mercedes one-two and the team's third such finish of the season. Alexander Albon's third place was the first Formula One podium of his career, making him the first Thai driver and the first Asian driver outside Japan to stand on a Formula One podium. Kimi Räikkönen recovered to ninth place, scoring his first championship points of the season; he had initially finished eighth but received a five-second penalty for crossing the pit-entry line. Twelve drivers were formally warned by the FIA for their involvement in the lap-6 restart collision. Jolyon Palmer, writing for the BBC, praised Mugello as a circuit that defied conventional design philosophy while delivering a compelling spectacle.