The Mercedes driver scout involved in discovering Kimi Antonelli is leaving the team to join rivals Red Bull. Frenchman Gwen Lagrue, 50, will take up a new role leading Red Bull's driver development programme, effectively replacing Helmut Marko, who retired from his long-time position as Red Bull's motorsport adviser at the end of last year.
Lagrue is regarded as the architect of the most effective young-driver "talent factory" in Formula 1. Under his watch passed, alongside Antonelli, George Russell — brought to Mercedes with a PowerPoint presentation in front of Toto Wolff — as well as drivers such as Esteban Ocon and Frederik Vesti. His name is especially tied to Antonelli's rise: spotted at the age of 11 and promoted to a race seat at 18.
The move is not yet formal. Red Bull and Mercedes are negotiating an agreement that would see Lagrue released from his current contract as driver development adviser to the Mercedes F1 team. Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies, and Lagrue himself, declined to comment when approached by BBC Sport.
Mercedes initially did the same, but after the Belgian Grand Prix — and following the publication of BBC Sport's story — Toto Wolff broke his silence: "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 a handful of juniors. 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."
It is unclear when Lagrue will be free to take up his new role. At Mercedes, his position will likely be filled by a minor reshuffle of the existing young-driver programme, arguably the most effective in F1. Lord, already involved, was recently promoted to deputy team principal from his previous role as communications director and senior adviser to Wolff. Mercedes have a team of up to 10 people analysing the junior categories, right down to the very junior levels of karting, to find promising new talent.
Sources
- BBC Sport — Mercedes driver scout Lagrue joining Red Bull: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/articles/cvg7kdnv4p2o
