Red Bull has officially announced the hiring of Gwen Lagrue to lead its Young Drivers Program in Formula 1. The professional, who left Mercedes after 11 years, will take on the role of director of the initiative and will report directly to the CEO and team principal, Laurent Mekies.
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Lagrue was responsible for Mercedes’ Young Drivers Program since 2016 and gained recognition for identifying and developing talents who reached the category, including George Russell and Kimi Antonelli. The hiring marks a new phase for Red Bull’s academy following the departure of Helmut Marko, which occurred a few months ago.
When announcing the arrival of the new director, Mekies highlighted Lagrue’s experience in driver development and emphasized that the academy remains one of the pillars of the team’s strategy. “Gwen is one of the best talent developers in F1 and I know firsthand the experience, leadership, and passion he brings to developing young drivers. Red Bull’s Young Drivers Program has always been one of the pillars of the team’s success, and having him in charge reflects the importance we continue to place on developing the next generation of F1 talent,” he said.
The head of Red Bull also made a point of honoring Helmut Marko for the work done over more than two decades. “We want to once again recognize Helmut Marko’s extraordinary contribution in creating and leading the Young Drivers Program. The program became the benchmark in F1 because of his vision, dedication, and ability to identify and develop exceptional talents, and he deserves enormous recognition for that,” he said. Mekies added that attracting professionals of Lagrue’s caliber is fundamental to the team’s ambitions and to strengthening its high-performance structure.
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Lagrue described the move as the beginning of a new chapter in his career. “Joining Oracle Red Bull Racing marks the start of an exciting new phase for me. After eleven memorable years at Mercedes, I felt it was the right time to take on a new challenge and continue growing personally and professionally,” he said.
The new director also praised the tradition of Red Bull’s academy. “Red Bull’s Young Drivers Program is one of the most respected and successful in motorsport. It has revealed some of the greatest talents F1 has ever seen, and it is a great honor to lead such a talented team and help write its next chapter. I look forward to working closely with Laurent and the entire team and am very grateful for this opportunity.”
Finally, Lagrue stated that he intends to continue the legacy built by Red Bull. “Together, we have a fantastic foundation to further develop this legacy, continue evolving the program for the future, and identify, develop, and prepare the next generation of race winners and F1 world champions, following a model that Oracle Red Bull Racing has been successfully repeating for the past 20 years,” he concluded.
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