Mercedes driver scout involved in discovering Kimi Antonelli to join Red Bull

Red Bull has confirmed that the Mercedes driver scout involved in scouting Kimi Antonelli has been appointed head of its young driver programme.

France’s Gwen Lagrue’s move was announced by BBC Sport earlier this month.

On Monday, Red Bull released a statement announcing the 50-year-old’s appointment as director of its youth programme, adding that he would join the team in 2027.

Lagrue was appointed to replace Helmut Marko, who long retired from Red Bull’s motorsport consultancy at the end of last year.

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies said in a statement: “Gwen is one of the best talent developers in F1 and I know first-hand the expertise, leadership and passion she brings to developing young drivers.

“The Red Bull Junior Program has always been a cornerstone of Red Bull’s success and having Gwen soon lead it reflects the importance we continue to place on developing the next generation of F1 talent.”

Mekies praised Marko for his “outstanding contribution to building and managing the junior program for over two decades”, praising the Austrian former F1 driver’s “vision, commitment and ability to identify and develop exceptional talent”.

Lagrue said in a statement: “After 11 unforgettable years at Mercedes, I felt this was the right moment to take on a new challenge and continue to grow personally and professionally.

“The Red Bull Junior Program is one of the most respected and successful driver development programs in motorsport.

“It has produced some of the greatest talent F1 has ever seen and it is a real honor to have the opportunity to lead such a talented group and help shape the next era.”

“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 the model that Red Bull Racing has successfully replicated over the last 20 years.”

The most successful products of the Red Bull youth program were four-time champion Sebastian Vettel and eight-time champion Daniel Ricciardo.

Current Williams drivers Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz also took part in the programme, but Albon was dropped in 2016 and Lagrue subsequently provided him with personal assistance and he returned to F1 in 2019.

The announcement comes after Mercedes and Red Bull reached an agreement that removes Lagrue from his current contract as a driver development consultant for the Mercedes F1 team.

His role at Mercedes will be filled by a small reshuffle of what is arguably the most influential young driver program in F1.

Bradley Lord, who is already involved, was recently promoted to deputy team principal from his previous role as communications director and senior advisor to team principal Toto Wolff.

And Mercedes has a team of up to 10 people analyzing the junior categories, right down to the youngest levels of karting, to find promising new talent.

George Russell was the first to sign for the team following Lagrue’s appointment; It comes a few months after the Briton approached Wolff and gave him a PowerPoint presentation discussing his bid to be part of Mercedes’ junior programme.

The Briton has since been backed by Mercedes and completed the junior categories, being deployed to Williams for his first F1 race in 2019 and then being promoted to Mercedes in 2022.

Mercedes signed Antonelli when he was an 11-year-old go-kart racer and he was mentored by Mercedes through an accelerated program that sees the seven-time champion replace Lewis Hamilton in the team when he joins Ferrari at the start of 2025.

Antonelli is proving to be a generational talent this year, dominating the F1 world championship in only his second season.

The 19-year-old driver has won five races and taken six pole positions from 10 races so far this season and sits 25 points ahead of Russell ahead of Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix.

Other successes for Mercedes while Lagrue runs the young driver program include Frenchman Esteban Ocon, who was their junior driver and was managed by them throughout his 10-year F1 career at Manor, Force India, Renault/Alpine and now Haas, and current F1 reserve driver Dane Frederik Vesti.