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Red Bull are poaching the man who built the most effective driver pipeline in Formula 1. Gwen Lagrue, who has headed Mercedes' junior programme since 2016, is set to leave Brackley for a similar role at Red Bull, Motorsport.com reports. No timeline has been confirmed and none of the parties involved have commented publicly.
The scale of Lagrue's track record is hard to overstate. He oversaw the development of George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli — the same Antonelli who currently leads the championship standings with 179 points and five wins in 2026, 25 points clear of his own team-mate Russell. Lagrue identified Antonelli when the Italian was just 11 years old, pushing ahead despite internal resistance at Mercedes. That call now looks prescient.
Before Mercedes, Lagrue ran Lotus's junior programme from 2011 under Eric Boullier, where he brought through Esteban Ocon and Alex Albon. His first assignment at Brackley was convincing Russell to reject a BMW factory DTM drive and stay in single-seaters — a conversation that shaped a career.
At Red Bull, Lagrue inherits a restructured setup. Helmut Marko ran the young driver programme for 25 years. Now, with two Racing Bulls seats serving as the primary development pipeline, Lagrue's talent-scouting expertise takes over at a critical moment — Red Bull sit fourth in the constructors' standings on 128 points, well adrift of Mercedes' 333. Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar are yet to win a race this season.