Ferrari owns one of them, MotoGP rides at another, and the third began as an oval of sand north of Rome.
Mugello is a 5.245 km Tuscan circuit owned by Ferrari that staged the 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix. Misano, near Rimini, hosts MotoGP and was renamed for Marco Simoncelli. Vallelunga, north of Rome, began as a sand oval in 1951 and now serves as a test and series venue.
For 32 years Ferrari owned a Formula One circuit that had never held a Formula One race. Scuderia Ferrari has used Mugello in Tuscany for testing since 1988, yet the track did not stage a grand prix until 13 September 2020, when the pandemic scrambled the calendar and the Tuscan Grand Prix turned out to be Ferrari's 1000th. Three Italian circuits, Mugello, Misano and Vallelunga, took very different routes from rough beginnings to international racing.
What is the Mugello circuit and where did it come from?
The Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello sits in Scarperia e San Piero, in the province of Florence. Its lap is 5.245 km (3.259 mi) with 15 turns and a straight of 1.141 km (0.709 mi), and the stands hold 50,000 people. The Italian motorcycle Grand Prix is held there every year, for MotoGP and the smaller classes.
It is the second Mugello course, not the first. From the 1920s, races ran on ordinary roads through the mountains, starting in the village of Scarperia. The lap climbed north on the SP503 to Firenzuola, swung west, then turned south on the SR65 through Covigliaio, Selva and Traversa before it crossed the Futa Pass, the same pass the Mille Miglia used. Further on, the course crossed a narrow stretch of Bilancino Lake through an ultra-fast left-hander, turned onto the SP129 toward San Piero a Sieve and then went north again to finish where it had begun.
Giuseppe Campari won there in 1920 and 1921, and Emilio Materassi in 1925, 1926 and 1928. The Mugello Grand Prix returned in 1955 and again from 1964 to 1969 as a road race in the spirit of the Targa Florio, eight laps of 66.2 km each. It counted toward the World Sportscar Championship in 1965, 1966 and 1967. In 1968 an Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 shared by Luciano Bianchi, Nanni Galli and Nino Vaccarella beat the Porsche of Rico Steinemann and Jo Siffert, and Arturo Merzario won in an Abarth 2000 in 1969 and again in 1970, when Abarth took the first three places.
The end was tragic. During a private test in 1970, on roads that were open to the public outside race day and qualifying, Spartaco Dini lost control of his Alfa Romeo GTA in Firenzuola and ploughed into a crowd. A seven-month-old baby died and four others, among them two young children, were badly hurt. There had been only one earlier death on the original course, that of Gunther Klass in 1967, but the crash did lasting harm to the event's standing, and the 1970 race became the last held on public roads. Dini served two months in prison and later left Italy.
It is the second Mugello course, not the first.
How did the permanent Mugello circuit become a Ferrari home?
The closed circuit that exists today was built in 1973 and opened in 1974, roughly 5 km (3.1 mi) east of the easternmost point of the old road course. Ferrari took ownership in 1988. Touring cars came in 2007 and 2008 with an annual round of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, while the opening race of the 2008-09 A1GP season, planned there for 21 September 2008, was cancelled because the new chassis for the cars were late.
Formula One teams went in 2012 for an in-season test, every team but HRT among them. Romain Grosjean set an unofficial best of 1:21.035. Mark Webber said ten dry laps were worth a thousand at Abu Dhabi in terms of satisfaction, and Sebastian Vettel, a four-time world champion, lamented that such a circuit with so many fast corners was not on the calendar. Vitaly Petrov disagreed, calling the venue unsafe.
The calendar finally made room in 2020. On 10 July it was announced that Mugello would host the ninth round of the season, and the race marked Ferrari's 1000th grand prix. Lewis Hamilton then set the official lap record for the current layout, 1:18.833 in the race, and the unofficial all-time record of 1:15.144 in final qualifying.
Grosjean came back in 2025. On 26 September he drove a Haas VF-23 at Mugello in an official Testing of Previous Cars session, his return to Formula One five years after his accident at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix.
The circuit also carries serious credentials off the track. It has the 3-star FIA Environmental Accreditation, plus ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001 and ISO 20121 certification and the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme, and a 2021 report ranked it the most sustainable racetrack in the world. It has known sorrow too. At the 2021 Italian motorcycle Grand Prix, the 19-year-old Swiss Moto3 rider Jason Dupasquier fell at Arrabbiata 2 on his last qualifying lap and was struck by two other bikes. He was airlifted to Careggi hospital in Florence and died the next day.
Misano World Circuit: from small pit area to MotoGP home
Misano sits beside the town of Misano Adriatico, in the Province of Rimini. It was designed in 1969, built between 1970 and 1972, and opened with a 3.488 km (2.167 mi) layout and only a small open pit area. That version held three San Marino motorcycle Grands Prix, from 1985 to 1987.
Its first big change came in 1993, when it gained a longer loop that could be used with the old short one, and new pit garages. Descriptions of the 1993 length differ, with one giving 4.064 km (2.525 mi) and another 4.060 km (2.523 mi). That year the 1993 Italian Grand Prix ended the career of Wayne Rainey, the defending 500 cc world champion, who broke his spine in a fall. More pits and stands were added from 1996 to 2001, and in 2005 a new access road was named Via Daijiro Kato after the Japanese rider killed at the 2003 Japanese Grand Prix.
The decisive rebuild came in 2006, aimed at winning back the world motorcycle championship. The direction was reversed to clockwise, the lap grew to 4.180 km (2.597 mi), and the track was widened to 14 m (15 yd). In 2007 the San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix returned, and the first MotoGP winner on the rebuilt circuit was Ducati. Misano today is listed at 4.226 km (2.626 mi), longer than the 2006 figure, and the published lengths for the layouts in between do not all agree.
It has also had its share of grief. In 2010 Shoya Tomizawa lost control during the Moto2 race and was struck by Scott Redding and Alex de Angelis, exactly 17 years after Rainey's accident. Then came the name. Marco Simoncelli, born in nearby Cattolica and raised in Coriano, died at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix, and on 3 November 2011 the circuit owners said it would carry his name. The change was confirmed at the Superbike round on 8 June 2012.
| Circuit | Where | Listed length | How it began | Headline event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mugello | Scarperia e San Piero, Florence | 5.245 km (3.259 mi) | Public road races from the 1920s; closed circuit opened 1974 | Italian motorcycle Grand Prix; 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix |
| Misano | Misano Adriatico, Rimini | 4.226 km (2.626 mi) | Designed 1969, opened 1972 at 3.488 km (2.167 mi) | San Marino and Rimini Riviera MotoGP round |
| Vallelunga | North of Rome, near Campagnano | 1.773 km (1.102 mi) original oval, plus 0.863 km (0.536 mi) extension | Sand oval built 1951 | Test circuit; Italian GT, F4 and touring-car rounds |
Vallelunga circuit: a sand oval north of Rome
The Autodromo di Vallelunga Piero Taruffi lies 32 km (20 mi) north of Rome. It began in 1951 as a 1.773 km (1.102 mi) sand oval, nothing like the circuit that stands there now. The Rome Grand Prix arrived in 1963, and the Automobile Club d'Italia took ownership in 1967, adding a new loop. More refurbishment came in 1971, and large-scale expansion followed in 2005 with a new garage block in the summer of 2006. The track has carried the name of racing driver Piero Taruffi since October 2006.
The decisive project started in August 2004, when work began on a 0.863 km (0.536 mi) extension that brought the track to its present length. The new layout received FIA homologation as a test circuit, and various Formula One teams have used it. The records come from those sessions. Anthony Davidson's 1:12.804 in a Honda RA106 in April 2006 is the unofficial best for the current International Circuit, while Luca Badoer's 0:56.335 in a Ferrari F2004 in October 2004 is the best for the former layout, now the Historic International Circuit.
Vallelunga has other jobs. The Automobile Club d'Italia uses it for public driving safety courses, every autumn a vast flea market for vintage car spares takes over, and the simulation software company Kunos Simulazioni runs an office from one of the pit garages. In September the NASCAR Euro Series visits for NASCAR GP Italy, part of the American Festival of Rome.
What races at Mugello, Misano and Vallelunga across the year?
Mugello's current programme starts in March with the Michelin 12H, TCR Europe, Prototype Cup Europe and the Radical Cup Europe. April belongs to Ferrari Challenge Europe, May to the Italian motorcycle Grand Prix, the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup and the CIV Superbike Championship, and July to the Ultimate Cup Series, Italian GT and Italian F4. October brings the BOSS GP Gran Premio Storico d'Italia. The Ferrari Challenge Finali Mondiali has visited many times, starting in 1993 and most recently in 2025.
At Misano the headline is the September MotoGP round and its support races, but the summer is busy. June brings the Superbike World Championship, the International GT Open and the Euroformula Open Championship, and July the GT World Challenge Europe, the GT2 and GT4 European Series and the McLaren Trophy Europe. In the past it has also hosted the DTM in 2018 and 2019, W Series in 2019 and a Formula E ePrix in 2024.
Vallelunga's year is lighter and leans to Italian series. May has Italian GT, Italian F4, TCR Italian Series and Drift Masters, July has the E4 Championship and Porsche Carrera Cup Italy, and October has CIV Superbike. In earlier years it hosted the 6 Hours of Rome in most seasons from 1994 to 2018 and again in 2020, the Rome Grand Prix, Superbike and Supersport rounds in 2007 and 2008, and a World Touring Car Cup round in 2022.
What is booked at the three circuits
Several fixtures are already pencilled in. Mugello lists the E4 Championship for 2023 to 2025 and again in 2027. Misano's future entries include Ferrari Challenge Europe in 2027, Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe in 2027 and the Ultimate Cup Series in 2027.
For anyone who drives, the lesson is practical. Mugello, with a long straight, fast corners and Ferrari's own Challenge series, is where Maranello's cars and its racing programme share one site. Misano hosts GT and one-make sports-car series from McLaren and Lamborghini, and Vallelunga mixes club racing, driver training and test work within reach of the capital.
