‘He’s proper bursting, even after all these years. Can reel off my stats, and often does to the poor nurses in his care home.’
‘Bless him.’
I can’t help but smile when I think about my grandad. He showed me what it means to support someone – in a fuller way than just functionally. Kids need more than a key and microwave dinner.
‘What about you? Who got you into baking?’ I ask.
‘My mum. You wouldn’t guess it by looking at her but she’s an incredible baker.’ You certainly wouldn’t with legs like hers. ‘We used to do it a lot when I was young, then when my dad left it was a kind of catharsis. Blaring music, not speaking, throwing random ingredients together, creating something new. She’s a bold baker and I’m an intuitive baker. Makes for a good partnership.’
‘And did your dad get you into F1? You don’t have to talk about him if it’s difficult,’ I rush to add.
‘It’s not difficult.’ She carefully flicks her fringe aside, unaware the back’s a knotted mess. ‘We used to fly out to him some race weekends, and he’d take me to the factory in Woking and dump me with whoever offered. They’d talk me through what was exciting about their job and basically butter me up so I’d put in a good word with my dad – but I learned a lot that way.
‘When we moved to Maranello, we lived down the road from Martinelli’s HQ, so Mum and I would go in after school sometimes and have a poke around and play on the simulator.’
‘Never fancied racing for real?’
Her smile’s incredulous. ‘I have self-preservation, thank you very much.’
Smart decision. ‘Do you see him much now?’
It’s weird thinking about Cliff Roberts being anything other than a racing superstar. Sure, I always knew he’d screwed over his family, but it’s easy to fool the public into thinking it was a smooth transition. I couldn’t believe what Minnie said earlier. How could he leave them with nothing? You might hate your ex and want nothing to do with her, but yourdaughter?
‘I…’ Minnie trails off, worrying her lip. ‘The last time I saw him, he was going to an event in Bahrain. He came back while I was at school, told my mum he was leaving, and I never heard from him again.’
The fuck?‘What a wanker.’
‘He knocked up some woman and was determined to “do the right thing”.’ She makes quote marks with her fingers.
‘Excuse me?’
I can’t believe I ever considered that monster a hero. As my grandad says: if a man doesn’t have principles, he doesn’t have anything. The iconic photo of Cliff’s first win at Monza is still hanging on my childhood bedroom wall. I used to look up at it and imagine myself in his shoes. He was a maverick, a risk taker, a man who made his own luck. The ultimate role model for a kid like me. I feel rank thinking about it now.
‘No phone call, no Christmas card, nothing,’ Minnie says.
Of courseshe’s commitment-phobic. How are you meant to trust men with a father like that? If you’re brave enough to have kids, you should have the decency to do right by them.
‘I’m sorry, Roberts, that’s appalling.’
‘He actually wasn’t terrible before. He was absent, sure, but when he was around, he played with me and asked about my day and stuff. It was quite out of the blue.’
‘You know that’s pretty bare minimum dad behaviour. You deserved more,’ I say, looking over at her.
She meets my gaze. ‘So did you.’
The engine’s soft hum is soothing as we cruise into Bologna. We’ve opened up a lot of closet doors tonight, and if it were anyone else, I’d be worrying about her blabbing to the papers first thing tomorrow. But something tells me she’s not the type.
‘You know he goes to Monaco every year, don’t you?’ I add.
‘It’d be hard not to; the paddock’s a ten-minute walk from our old flat – the one he now lives in with his OnlyFans… model? Is that what they’re called?’ Her forehead creases.
‘You can call her what you want. Usually I think they like “models”, but you don’t have to be PC in this case.’
In spite of everything, she laughs, and I award myself an imaginary fist bump.
‘Steer clear of Ackland next weekend, that’s my advice,’ I say.
‘Oh I intend to. Let’s hope they don’t have an epic or disastrous weekend.’
