Gwen Lagrue, a 50-year-old French motorsport professional, is transitioning from Mercedes to Red Bull to lead the latter’s driver development programme. Lagrue’s appointment comes as a replacement for Helmut Marko, who stepped down from his role as Red Bull’s motorsport adviser at the end of last year.
Lagrue has been instrumental in Mercedes’ renowned junior driver identification and development system during his decade with the team. He was responsible for discovering Kimi Antonelli when the driver was competing in go-karts at age 11, subsequently guiding Antonelli through an accelerated development pathway that culminated in his promotion to the Mercedes F1 team in 2025 following Lewis Hamilton’s departure to Ferrari. Antonelli has since emerged as a dominant force in the current season, winning six races across ten grands prix and holding a 45-point championship lead after the Belgian Grand Prix.
Mercedes and Red Bull are currently negotiating the terms of Lagrue’s release from his existing contract as driver development adviser. The timing of his formal transition to Red Bull remains uncertain pending the completion of these discussions. At Mercedes, his responsibilities will likely be absorbed through a reorganization of the existing junior programme, with Bradley Lord—recently promoted to deputy principal—playing an expanded role in overseeing the young-driver development efforts.
Lagrue’s recruitment represents a significant personnel addition for Red Bull, which has experienced notable departures of key staff in recent years. Chief technical director Adrian Newey moved to Aston Martin, head of strategy Will Courtenay joined McLaren, and current head of racing Gianpiero Lambiase is scheduled to transition to McLaren no later than 2028. Red Bull views Lagrue’s hiring as essential to strengthening their junior driver programme under team principal Laurent Mekies’ leadership and rebuilding organizational competitiveness.
Beyond Antonelli, Lagrue’s track record at Mercedes includes developing other notable drivers such as George Russell, who joined the junior programme following a personal presentation to Toto Wolff and progressed through the junior categories before making his F1 debut in 2019 and joining the senior Mercedes team in 2022. His work has also supported drivers including Esteban Ocon and Alex Albon, the latter receiving career guidance after being dropped from Red Bull’s programme in 2016.