Red Bull have signed up Mercedes’ driver development boss Gwen Lagrue, who was instrumental in Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Formula 1 swoop.
After Helmut Marko’s departure, at the end of last season, the Milton-Keynes-based squad had been on the look out for a worthy replacement.
It would appear now, that, that particular search has come to an end, with Red Bull having secured the services of Lagrue, who was the chief driver scout for the German marque.
The Frenchman had been instrumental in signing up a 11-year-old Antonelli to the team’s junior program. And his judgment seems to be impeccable as the 19-year-old leads the 2026 driver’s championship, in only his sophomore year in the sport.
Lagrue is slated to join Red Bull as its head of the junior driver programme, as per the BBC – the post formerly held by Marko while he scouted the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen for the team.
This would surely be a heavy loss for Mercedes, who described Lagrue as the “jeweller” of the team.
The move could also cast doubt on the future of Guileume Rocquelin, the Red Bull Driver Academy chief. A
ffectionately known as ‘Rocky’, the former engineer to Vettel has been in the post since 2022, and was widely slated to be the replacement for Marko, amid the Austrian’s retirement upon the conclusion of the 2025 season.
Mercedes initiate potential discussions to retain Lagrue’s F1 services
At the time of writing, there has been no official communication from either of the parties.
Further, there is no timeline in place for the Frenchman’s reported transition to Red Bull.
At the Belgian GP weekend, Team Principal Toto Wolff had hinted that negotiations were still underway with Lagrue about his future within the organisation.
“We’re in discussions with Gwen about the future, but nothing’s been agreed or decided yet,” Wolff had said.
“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.”
With Red Bull firmly in these conversations, there is no doubt that Wolff will fight tooth and nail to secure Lagrue’s future with Mercedes.
But the chance to take the baton from someone as iconic as Marko may also be a temptation that might draw the Frenchman away from Brackley and to Milton-Keynes.
READ MORE – McLaren to field Fornaroli in Hungary amid Haas F1 rumours
Discussion about this post