Gwen Lagrue, the French talent scout who discovered Kimi Antonelli and built Mercedes' industry-leading young driver programme, is joining Red Bull to take over the role vacated by Helmut Marko.
Lagrue, 50, will head Red Bull's junior driver development programme, the team confirmed after BBC Sport broke the story following the Belgian Grand Prix. No start date has been agreed, with Mercedes and Red Bull still negotiating the Frenchman's release from his existing contract as driver development adviser.
Lagrue will team up with fellow Frenchman Laurent Mekies, Red Bull's team principal. Both Mekies and Lagrue declined to comment when approached by BBC Sport.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, asked about Lagrue's future after Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, said: "We're in discussions with Gwen about the future, but nothing's been agreed or decided yet. Gwen has built up a fantastic team, we're about seven, eight or nine people that are running the junior programme going forward. With Bradley Lord stepping up as a deputy principal, these things need to be carved out now. We want to do it together with Gwen."
Lagrue has spent a decade at Mercedes, where his first signing was George Russell in early 2017. The Briton was supported through the junior categories, sent to Williams for his F1 debut in 2019, and promoted to the Mercedes works team in 2022.
His most celebrated discovery is Antonelli, signed at age 11 from go-karts. Now 19, the Italian leads the drivers' championship by 45 points after winning six of 10 races this season, having replaced Lewis Hamilton when the seven-time champion joined Ferrari.
Among other Mercedes juniors developed under Lagrue are Esteban Ocon, who has raced in F1 for a decade, and reserve driver Frederik Vesti. Lagrue also personally mentored Alex Albon after Marko dropped the Anglo-Thai driver from Red Bull's programme in 2016, helping him secure budget and career advice until Albon returned to the Red Bull family for his F1 debut.
For Red Bull, the hire is a statement of intent. The team has lost chief technical officer Adrian Newey to Aston Martin, head of strategy Will Courtenay to McLaren, and head of racing Gianpiero Lambiase to McLaren (from 2028). Lagrue's arrival signals that Red Bull can still attract top talent from across the paddock as it rebuilds under Mekies' leadership.
The move effectively closes the chapter on Marko's era at Red Bull. The Austrian motorsport adviser, who ran Red Bull's driver programme for decades and discovered Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, retired at the end of 2025. Lagrue will now be tasked with restoring the programme to its former glory.
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
