England manager Thomas Tuchel will take his 26-man squad to Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix as the Three Lions take a break from their World Cup qualifying campaign
Thomas Tuchel has authorised some down time for England stars in Barcelona(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Thomas Tuchel is set to take his 26-man England squad to the Spanish Grand Prix this Sunday. The Three Lions will be taking a break from preparations for their World Cup qualifier against Andorra next Saturday with a trip to Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, who officially joins Real Madrid on Sunday after an early release from Liverpool, skipper Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham are all expected to attend the ninth round of the Formula 1 season.
Footballers are regular visitors to the F1 paddock over the summer, after the have completed their club campaigns. The Monaco Grand Prix weekend often clashes with the final day of the Premier League season, as it did this season, so top flight stars usually descend on Barcelona as the event which follows that showpiece.
Those called up by Tuchel to represent the Three Lions in matches against Andorra and Senegal in the coming days may have worried that they might miss out. But the German is clearly happy for his stars to enjoy some down time to take in some F1 action.
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After kicking off his tenure as England manager with wins against Albania and Latvia, Tuchel continues the journey to next summer’s finals with a Group K match against Andorra – ranked 173rd globally – followed by a friendly against Senegal on June 10 at the City Ground.
But up first is this weekend’s Barcelona race where British star Lando Norris, fresh off his victory at the Monaco GP last weekend, is aiming to topple Oscar Piastri from the championship lead. He currently trails his McLaren team-mate by three points.
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Norris is not the only Brit that the England players will be cheering on. George Russell is also leading the charge for Mercedes while his former team-mate Lewis Hamilton is representing Ferrari, though the seven-time F1 champion struggled a lot in Friday practice.
Rookie Oliver Bearman makes it four racers flying the Union Flag on the grid, representing American team Haas. And although Alex Albon represents Thailand, the homeland of his mother, the Williams racer was born in London, raised in Suffolk and identifies as both Thai and British.
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England footballers on the grid before Sunday’s race will have to be wary of the possibility they may be collared by Sky Sports for a chat on their grid walk. Two years ago, Martin Brundle took the opportunity to quiz Mason Mount about the rumours linking him with a move to Manchester United.
He would of course complete that switch but his time at Old Trafford so far has been plagued by injury. He scored a brace earlier this month against Athletic Club Bilbao to held send United through to the Europa League final, but found himself omitted from Tuchel’s England squad and hasn’t been capped since playing in the World Cup defeat to France in December 2022.