🇮🇹 Cesare Perdisa

Cesare Perdisa was an Italian racing driver who competed in Formula 1 between 1955 and 1957, accumulating eight starts for Ferrari and Maserati. His Racer Rating of 7,206 places him among the established professional tier; he was a capable driver in one of motorsport's most competitive eras, finishing on average in fifth place across his classified starts and securing two podium finishes against some of the finest drivers of the period.[1]

Perdisa's record against his peers reveals a driver who could occasionally match the very best but typically finished behind them in direct competition. Against Juan Fangio, the five-time world champion, he never finished ahead in five shared races. His record against Stirling Moss was more balanced, beating the British driver twice in four encounters, and he also bested former champions Mike Hawthorn and Nino Farina in isolated results. More consistently, Perdisa finished ahead of Jean Behra once in six races, and his head-to-head record against Peter Collins, Eugenio Castellotti and Harry Schell showed mixed results. His career was primarily pursued with Maserati, which fielded him in seven of his eight starts alongside other drivers of similar professional standing.[2]

Perdisa's Grand Prix career was brief and closed after 1957 without securing a world championship point or a race victory, though his pair of podium finishes demonstrated capability in the top class during an era when the field was dominated by established professionals and generational talents. His concurrent work as an agricultural journalist reflected the part-time nature of Grand Prix racing in the 1950s, when few drivers could sustain full-time motorsport careers alone.