The Mercedes driver scout who helped discover Formula 1 championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli is leaving the team to join rivals Red Bull, in a move that reshapes the driver development landscape of the sport.
Frenchman Gwen Lagrue, 50, who has led Mercedes' driver development programme for the past decade, will take up a new role heading Red Bull's junior driver programme. He effectively replaces Helmut Marko, the Austrian who retired as Red Bull's motorsport adviser at the end of last season after decades overseeing the team's talent pipeline.
Lagrue was instrumental in bringing George Russell into the Mercedes junior programme in early 2017, supporting the Briton through his Williams years before his promotion to the Silver Arrows in 2022. He also signed Antonelli when the Italian was just 11 years old and racing go-karts — a bet that has paid off spectacularly, with Antonelli now leading the 2026 world championship by 45 points after six wins in 10 races.
At Red Bull, Lagrue will team up with compatriot Laurent Mekies, the Red Bull team principal. The move represents a significant coup for the energy drinks giant, which has lost a string of high-profile personnel in recent seasons: chief technical officer Adrian Newey joined Aston Martin, head of strategy Will Courtenay moved to McLaren, and head of racing Gianpiero Lambiase is also bound for McLaren by 2028. Red Bull view Lagrue's arrival as a cornerstone of rebuilding their junior programme to the standard that produced Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen.
No start date has been agreed yet. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff confirmed discussions are ongoing, saying at Spa-Francorchamps after Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix: "We're in discussions with Gwen about the future, but nothing's been agreed or decided yet." Wolff indicated that Mercedes would reorganise internally to cover Lagrue's departure, with deputy team principal Bradley Lord taking on broader responsibilities within the existing young-driver programme — considered one of the most effective in F1.
Mercedes and Red Bull are now negotiating an agreement for Lagrue's release from his existing contract as driver development adviser to the Mercedes F1 team.
Sources
- https://www.crash.net/f1/news/1101513/1/red-bulls-new-helmut-marko-mercedes-driver-scout-switches-f1-rival
- https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/articles/cvg7kdnv4p2o
