The Circuito do Estoril or Autódromo do Estoril (Estoril Circuit), officially known as Autódromo Fernanda Pires da Silva, is a

motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of t ...

race track A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also use ...

on the

Portuguese Riviera The Portuguese Riviera ( Portuguese: ''Riviera Portuguesa'') is a term used in the tourist industry for the affluent coastal region to the west of Lisbon, Portugal, centered on the coastal municipalities of Cascais (including Estoril), Oeiras ...

, outside of

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

, owned by state-run holding management company

Parpública Parpública, officially Participações Públicas (SGPS) S.A., is a state holding company that can be characterized as a National Wealth Fund of the Portuguese Republic. The company is based in Lisbon, Portugal. Among its major assets are TAP Portu ...

. Its length is . It was the home of the

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

Portuguese Grand Prix The Portuguese Grand Prix (''Grande Prémio de Portugal'') is a motorsports event that was first held in 1951 as a sportscar event, and then intermittently disappearing for many years before being revived again. In 1964 event was held as a spo ...

from 1984 to 1996. The capacity of the motorsport stadium is 45,000. The circuit has an

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backs ...

Grade 1 license.

History

Estoril, a vacation-destination beach town located west of the Portuguese capital city of

has had a motor racing dating back to the 1930s, with a street circuit used in 1937 for a local race. The current Estoril circuit was built and completed in 1972 on a rocky

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...

near the village of Alcabideche, from

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has h ...

, the town lending its name to the circuit. The course has two hairpin turns, noticeable elevation changes, and a long start/finish straight. Its original perimeter was , and the maximum gradient is nearly 7%. Monsanto Park, another street circuit in Lisbon hosted a variety of motor racing events in the 1950s, including the 1959 Portuguese Grand Prix, an event it shared briefly with the Boavista street circuit in

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...

. Its first years saw many national races, as well as an occasional Formula 2 race. However, the course soon fell into disrepair due to the owning company having been taken over by the state between 1975 and 1978, and a significant redevelopment effort was needed before international

returned in 1984. In the 1980s, the

Rally de Portugal The Rally de Portugal (formerly: Rallye de Portugal) is a rally competition held in Portugal. First held in 1967, the seventh running of the race, the 7º TAP Rallye de Portugal was the third event in the inaugural FIA World Rally Cham ...

also had a special stage at the circuit. Estoril became a popular event on the F1 calendar, the setting for many well-known moments including

Niki Lauda Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian Formula One driver and aviation entrepreneur. He was a three-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, winning in , and , and is the only driver in Formula ...

winning the championship, his third and final, from

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formu ...

teammate

Alain Prost Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Micha ...

by just half a point by finishing second to Prost at the 1984 Portuguese Grand Prix; three-time world champion

Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers from Brazil to win the World Championship and ...

's first F1 win in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

;

Nigel Mansell Nigel Ernest James Mansell, (; born 8 August 1953) is a British retired racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship ( 1992) and the CART Indy Car World Series (1993 CART World Series Season, 1993). Mansell was the reigning ...

's notorious black flag incident and subsequent collision with Senna in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

;

Riccardo Patrese Riccardo Gabriele Patrese (born 17 April 1954) is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to . He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, and ...

being launched airborne in a near-backward flip after colliding with Gerhard Berger on the main straight in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...

; and Jacques Villeneuve overtaking

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...

around the outside of the final turn in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

. Throughout the years, Estoril has had numerous problems with safety, failing safety inspections on more than one occasion. After the death of Ayrton Senna at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, a chicane was added which increased the circuit length to . Estoril sometimes has strong winds. Many teams were fond of using Estoril for winter testing. Estoril was dropped from the F1 calendar for the 1997 season, though it continued to play host to top-level single-seater, sports car and touring car events, including the

FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

, the DTM and the

World Series by Renault The Renault Sport Series (formerly known as World Series by Renault) is a motor racing series. The series latterly consisted of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, and used to contain the Renault Sport Trophy and the Formula Renault 3.5 Series. Th ...

. A new redesign of the parabolica turn which saw its length reduced to was implemented in 2000 in order to obtain FIM homologation. SL Estoril

On 3 September 2000, the Autódromo do Estoril held its first

Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix The Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling road racing event that is part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Championship. History The event was first held in 1987 at the Jarama circuit in Spain. The reason for this was becau ...

, an event held annually. On 23 October 2005, the circuit hosted the third round of the first ever

A1 Grand Prix A1 Grand Prix (A1GP) was a "single-make" open-wheel auto racing series that ran from 2005 until 2009. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themselves or a team, the usual format in most f ...

racing season, with both races in the event being won by the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

team. The track hosted

Superleague Formula Superleague Formula was an open wheel single seater motor racing formula, which started in 2008, at Donington Park in the United Kingdom. The league introduced team sponsorship by association football clubs. It used the slogan 'The Beautiful ...

series events in 2008 and 2009. In 2020, due to rescheduling of major international sport series due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, Estoril hosted the final race of

2020 Superbike World Championship The 2020 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship was the 33rd season of the Superbike World Championship. Race calendar and results The 2020 season calendar was announced on 21 November 2019, with 13 rounds scheduled. The championship visited Circ ...

(after hosting the series in 1988 and 1993) and the final race of 2019–20 FIM Endurance World Championship (after hosting the series in 1987 and 2000).

Lap records

The official race lap records at the Circuito do Estoril are listed as:

Events

; Current * January: GT Winter Series * April: Estoril Welcome Spring * May:

Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing. The championship was founded i ...

, International GT Open, Euroformula Open,

FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship FIM JuniorGP World Championship is a junior class race event organized by Dorna Sports under FIM regulations. It runs under Moto3 regulations and acts as an Moto3 World Championship feeder. This class is restricted to single-cylinder 250 cc fo ...

* September: Acdme I Race Weekend * October:

Sidecar World Championship FIM Sidecar World Championship is the international sidecar racing championship. It is the only remaining original FIM road racing championship class that started in 1949. It was formerly named Superside when the sidecars moved from being part o ...

, Estoril Classics * November: SuperCars Endurance Series, 250KM Estoril Winter 'Fun in the Sun', Acdme II Race Weekend ; Future *

24H Series The 24H Series is a sports car racing and touring car racing series developed by Creventic and with approval from the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It features GT3-spec cars, GT4-spec cars, sports cars, touring cars and 2 ...

''12 Hours of Estoril'' (2023) *

F4 Spanish Championship The F4 Spanish Championship ( es, Campeonato de España de Fórmula 4) is an FIA Formula 4 racing series. The championship was planned to launch in 2015, though the inaugural season was cancelled and delayed until 2016. Koiranen GP was the promot ...

(2017, 2023) ; Former *

(2005) *

Auto GP Auto GP, sometimes referred to as the Auto GP World Series and formerly known as both Euro Formula 3000 and the Euroseries 3000, was a European formula racing series. The series' roots can be traced back to 1999 and the Italian Formula 3000 seri ...

(2004, 2014) *

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM, German Touring Car Masters) is a grand touring car series sanctioned by ITR e.V. who have been affiliated to the DMSB- FIA since 1984. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The s ...

(2004) *

European Formula Two Championship The European Formula Two Championship was a Formula Two motor racing series that was held between 1967–84. The races were held across Europe, and were contested both by drivers aiming to compete in Formula One in the future as well as curren ...

(1975–1977) *

European Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the ...

4 Hours of Estoril The 4 Hours of Estoril was a sports car endurance race held at the Autódromo do Estoril in Estoril, on the Portuguese Riviera. The race was first held in 1977 as a round of the World Sportscar Championship. It was revived in 2001 for the Eu ...

'' (2011, 2014–2016) *

European Touring Car Championship The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World ...

(1977–1978, 1985–1988, 2001–2003) * European Touring Car Cup (2006) *

European Truck Racing Championship The FIA European Truck Racing Championship is a motorsport truck road racing series for semi-tractors which is sanctioned to the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, Internati ...

(2003) *

(2000–2003) *

FIA Sportscar Championship The FIA Sportscar Championship was a sports car racing series created by John Mangoletsi and was eventually taken control of by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It was a series similar to the FIA GT Championship, concentrating ...

'' FIA Sportscar Championship Estoril'' (2002–2003) *

FIM Endurance World Championship The Endurance World Championship ( FIM EWC) is the premier worldwide endurance championship in motorcycle road racing. The championship season consists of a series of endurance races (with a duration of six, eight, twelve or twenty-four hours) h ...

''12 Hours of Estoril'' (1987, 2000, 2020–2021) * Formula Chrysler Euroseries (2001) * Formula 3 Euro Series (2004) *

'' (1984–1996) * Formula Renault Eurocup (2005, 2007–2008, 2016) *

Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

'' (2000–2012) * IMSA European Le Mans Series ' Estoril 1000km'' (2001) *

International Formula 3000 The Formula 3000 International Championship was a motor racing series created by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 1985 to become the final preparatory step for drivers hoping to enter Formula One. Formula Two had become ...

(1985, 1994–1996) * International Touring Car Championship (1995–1996) *

Porsche Supercup The Porsche Supercup (officially known as Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, known as Porsche Michelin Supercup prior to 2007) is an international one-make sports car racing series supporting the FIA Formula One World Championship organized by Porsche ...

(1994, 1996) *

Stock Car Brasil Stock Car Pro Series, formerly known as Stock Car Brasil, is a touring car auto racing series based in Brazil organized by Vicar. It is considered the major Brazilian and South American motorsports series. Starting in 1979 with Chevrolet as the ...

(1982) *

(2008–2009) *

TCR International Series The TCR International Series was an international touring car championship. The championship was promoted by World Sporting Consulting (WSC), founded by former World Touring Car Championship manager Marcello Lotti. It was marketed as a cost-ef ...

(2016) *

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sin ...

'' FIA WTCC Race of Portugal'' (2008) *

World Touring Car Cup The FIA World Touring Car Cup (abbreviated to WTCR, referring to the use of TCR regulations) was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It ...

'' FIA WTCR Race of Portugal'' (2021)

Major event winners

Motorcycling - Portuguese Grand Prix

Notes

References

External links

Satellite picture at Google Maps.
*
Audio walkthrough of the track, for use with games.
{{Authority control

Rally de Portugal Superbike World Championship circuits Sport in Estoril Sports venues in Lisbon District World Touring Car Championship circuits Sports venues completed in 1972 1972 establishments in Portugal