Red Bull has poached Gwen Lagrue, Mercedes' head of driver development and the man who discovered Andrea Kimi Antonelli, to lead its junior driver programme in a move that effectively replaces Helmut Marko.
Lagrue, the 50-year-old Frenchman who has been with Mercedes for a decade, will take on a pivotal role at Red Bull working alongside team principal Laurent Mekies. No start date has yet been agreed, but the appointment marks a significant coup for the Milton Keynes-based team as it looks to rebuild its driver development pipeline after Marko's departure at the end of last season.
Toto Wolff confirmed that discussions are ongoing but nothing has been finalised. "We're in discussions with Gwen about the future, but nothing's been agreed or decided yet," Wolff said after the Belgian Grand Prix. "Gwen has built up a fantastic team... we want to do it together with Gwen."