Gwen Lagrue, the man who discovered F1 championship leader Kimi Antonelli, is leaving Mercedes to join rival Red Bull and oversee its famous driver development programme, sources have told ESPN.
Lagrue will effectively serve as a replacement for the company's former motorsport advisor Helmut Marko, who left at the end of 2025, after a long stint as the man overseeing the company's future pipeline of talent.
Lagrue has overseen Mercedes' driver development programme since the start of 2016 and was instrumental in signing Antonelli to a company deal in 2018 when the Italian was just 11.
Antonelli is 45 points clear of Lewis Hamilton after winning the Belgian Grand Prix, and appears to be cruising to a first career championship.
ESPN has reached out to both Red Bull and Mercedes for official comment, but there has been no confirmation of the move yet.
It is understood Red Bull hopes to have Lagrue on board at some point next season, although switching teams in Formula 1 is a notoriously complicated process.
The arrival of a prominent figure from Mercedes will be a welcome slice of positive news for Red Bull, who has suffered the dreaded F1 "brain drain" in recent years, with large numbers of big-name personnel leaving for rival teams.
Legendary designer Adrian Newey, former sporting director Jonathan Wheatley and technical director Rob Marshall all left for prominent roles at rival teams in recent years.
Long-serving team boss Christian Horner was also sacked last July after 20 years in charge.
Earlier this month, ESPN reported that long-serving engineer Paul Monaghan will also leave for Cadillac, while Max Verstappen's long-time race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase will join McLaren in 2028 or earlier if the two teams can agree on a release.
- Belgian Grand Prix: Kimi Antonelli seals sixth race victory, teammate George Russell suffers another blow
- Belgian Grand Prix: Kimi Antonelli extends championship lead, disaster for George Russell - as it happened
- Mercedes' George Russell on Belgian GP opening lap retirement: 'I'm numb to the disappointment'
Verstappen's future at Red Bull still hangs in the balance and it is understood the amount of big name departures from the team in recent years has alarmed the four-time world champion.
Lagrue's imminent arrival might help assuage fears of the future of Red Bull's own driver pipeline.
Marko was long seen as the pioneer of that programme, which can boast a combined eight world championships between Sebastian Vettel and Verstappen.
Red Bull has two teams in Formula 1, with the Racing Bulls junior team used to ready company junior drivers for a promotion to the top team.
