Red Bull is reportedly about to recruit Gwen Lagrue, head of Mercedes’ young driver program. Toto Wolff reacted to this information, without officially confirming his departure.
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Red Bull continues to strengthen its teams behind the scenes. According to several reports, the Milton Keynes team is about to recruit Gwen Lagrue, current head of the young driver development program at Mercedes.
This would be the first major recruitment made under the era of Laurent Mekies, who recently took over at Red Bull.
A key figure at Mercedes for several years, the Frenchman has played an essential role in the rise of many drivers to Formula 1.
The man behind Russell, Antonelli and Ocon
Within Mercedes, Gwen Lagrue has supervised the development of young talents for several seasons.
He notably supported George Russell, Kimi Antonelli and Esteban Ocon in their progression to Formula 1, while also following the path of reserve driver Frederik Vesti.
His potential arrival at Red Bull would therefore be a major strategic reinforcement for the Austrian team.
Laurent Mekies knows Lagrue well, which would have facilitated discussions between the two parties.
Wolff remains cautious
Asked about this matter on the sidelines of the Belgian Grand Prix, Toto Wolff did not confirm the departure of his collaborator.
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The Mercedes director however acknowledged that discussions are currently underway regarding his future.
“Yes, we are discussing Gwen’s future, but nothing has yet been agreed or decided.”
Mercedes is already preparing for the future
Even though no final decision has yet been made official, Wolff assures that Mercedes has a solid structure to continue developing its young drivers.
“Gwen has built a fantastic team. We now have seven, eight or nine people working on the young driver program, as well as several drivers in development.”
The Mercedes boss also recalled that Bradley Lord was recently promoted to deputy team principal, a change that could modify the internal organization.
“All these issues now need to be resolved. We want to find a solution with Gwen, then we will see what happens.”
If the transfer were to be confirmed, Red Bull would make a nice move in the recruitment market, attracting one of the main architects of the Mercedes pipeline, responsible for the emergence of several talents now established in Formula 1.
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