Mercedes driver scout Lagrue to join Red Bull

Image source, Mercedes F1 Image caption, Mercedes driver scout Gwen Lagrue (left) with team boss Toto Wolff and Mercedes junior driver James Anagnostiadis By Andrew Benson F1 Correspondent at Spa-Francorchamps Published 19 July 2026 Updated 4 minutes ago Red Bull have confirmed the appointment of the Mercedes driver scout involved in discovering Kimi Antonelli to head up their young driver programme. Frenchman Gwen Lagrue's move was revealed by BBC Sport earlier this month. On Monday, Red Bull released a statement announcing the 50-year-old's signing as director of their junior programme, adding he would join the team in 2027. Lagrue has been recruited essentially as a replacement for Helmut Marko, who retired from his long-time role as Red Bull's motorsport adviser at the end of last year. Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies said in a statement: "Gwen is one of the very best talent developers in F1 and I know first-hand the expertise, leadership and passion he brings to developing young drivers. "The Red Bull Junior Programme has always been a cornerstone of Red Bull's success, and having Gwen lead it soon reflects the importance we continue to place on developing the next generation of F1 talent." Mekies paid tribute to Marko for his "extraordinary contribution over more than two decades creating and leading the junior programme", praising the Austrian former F1 driver's "vision, commitment and ability to identify and develop exceptional talents". Lagrue said in the statement: "After 11 memorable years at Mercedes, I felt this was the right moment to take on a new challenge and continue growing personally and professionally. "The Red Bull Junior Programme is one of the most respected and successful driver development programmes in motorsport. "It has produced some of the greatest talents F1 has ever seen, and it is a real honour to have the opportunity to lead such a talented group of people and help shape its next chapter. "Together, we have a fantastic framework to build on the programme's remarkable legacy, continue to evolve it for the future, and identify, develop and prepare the next generation of F1 race winners and World Champions, following a pattern Red Bull Racing has successfully repeated over the past 20 years." The Red Bull junior programme's most successful products have been four-time champion Sebastian Vettel and eight-time winner Daniel Ricciardo. Current Williams drivers Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz also came through the programme, although Albon was dropped in 2016 - after which he was given personal assistance by Lagrue - before being re-instated for his F1 debut in 2019. The announcement comes after Mercedes and Red Bull reached an agreement that has released Lagrue from his existing contract as driver development adviser to the Mercedes F1 team. At Mercedes, his role will be filled by a minor reshuffle of the existing young-driver programme, arguably the most effective in F1. Bradley Lord, who was already involved, was