Mugello, Ferrari's Proving Ground in Tuscany

Ferrari's own fast, flowing circuit in the hills north of Florence waited decades for a Grand Prix, then received exactly one, for the team's thousandth race in 2020.

Long before Mugello had a circuit, it had a race. Competition in the valley north of Florence began on public roads in the 1920s, setting off from the village of Scarperia, climbing through the mountains to Firenzuola and coming home over the Futa Pass, a road the Mille Miglia also knew well. In the 1960s that lap ran to 66.2 km and counted toward the World Sportscar Championship. The road races ended in 1970, after a private test on the open roads at Firenzuola killed a baby of seven months.

The permanent circuit followed in 1973 and opened in 1974 at Scarperia e San Piero, a short way east of the old road course. Its 5.245 km lap has 15 turns and a main straight of 1.141 km, and drivers prize its fast corners. Ferrari has owned it since 1988 and tests there, a landlord that is also its most diligent tenant. Most fans know Mugello best as the home of the Italian motorcycle Grand Prix. When Formula 1 teams tested there in 2012, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber praised the track warmly, and Vettel regretted that it had no place on the calendar.

It took a rebuilt season to grant that wish. With the 2020 calendar redrawn by the pandemic, Mugello staged the Tuscan Grand Prix on 13 September as the ninth round, which also happened to be Ferrari's 1000th Grand Prix, a milestone celebrated on the team's own doorstep. Lewis Hamilton won from pole for Mercedes, with his teammate Valtteri Bottas second and Alexander Albon third for Red Bull, and only 12 of the 20 starters reached the finish.

That remains the circuit's only championship round. Mugello carries on regardless, with the motorcycle Grand Prix each year, the 12 Hours of Mugello and Ferrari's own test days keeping the Tuscan hills well supplied with noise.

Every Grand Prix here

• 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix