Valentino Rossi shares personal details of fatherhood and marriage

Valentino Rossi has offered a rare glimpse into his personal life after becoming a father for the second time.

The MotoGP legend and his partner Francesca welcomed Giulietta in January, after their first daughter Gabriella.

Rossi was cheekily questioned about when he will marry the mother of his children.

“For a couple, having children is a more important step than marriage,” he told Corriere della Sera.

“However, at the point we are at, we might as well get married.

“At a friend's wedding, the grown-up children brought the rings to the altar. Beautiful. That's how I'd like it.

“I'm saying this to buy time: it's a long time coming for Gabriella to be able to do something like this.”

Rossi reflected on his own parents, Graziano and Stefania.

“Mine is a very particular father but I only have good memories,” he said.

“He taught me how to approach life, sport, he made me laugh, I've always liked him."

And on his mother: “She raised me, she is a point of reference, we are neighbors.

“When Franci was pregnant I told her, jokingly: as soon as the baby is born we'll give her to you for two or three years and then we'll come and take her back.

“But she has her own things to do and I understood the great power that grandmothers have. They form the grandmothers' lobby. Very powerful for those with young children."

Rossi gave an insight into how his life looks now, aged 45, with his MotoGP career more than three years in the past.

His new daily routine: “Milk and biscuits for Giulietta at 7.50am.

“Now that Gabriella has arrived she is a little jealous, she wants Francesca to take her to nursery school. I try to convince her, come on, come with me. Nope.

“It's not that I mind because then I can go back to bed for a bit, given that the nights with a newborn are quite a circus.

“Then office, training. Evening: at home, having dinner with friends."

In typical Rossi fashion, he quipped: “I thought it was more difficult to be a dad!

“With two daughters it becomes more complicated. At the beginning it's simple because newborns, apart from not sleeping at night, don't expect anything at all. You have to do the running-in.

“I had cooked spaghetti for Giulietta, I had left them like this, long. Francesca has arrived: but no, you have to cut them, otherwise how will she do it?”