Red Bull to sign Lagrue from Mercedes driver development program

Red Bull is set to sign Gwen Lagrue from Mercedes to head up its driver development program.

Lagrue (pictured above with George Russell) has been in charge of Mercedes’ junior program and has been influential in the development of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli in progressing from the lower categories to become race-winning for Mercedes in Formula 1. The Frenchman is now poised to become a director of the Red Bull Junior Program, reporting into team principal Laurent Mekies.

Effectively replacing Helmut Marko – who left at the end of last year –- Lagrue’s signing marks the addition of a key pillar for Red Bull, and will be particularly welcome as the team has been the center of focus for senior departures over the past 18 months.

While Lagrue’s arrival has yet to be official announced, sources indicate it is due to the fact that the terms of his release from Mercedes still need to be finalized. However, there is uncertainty surrounding a current Red Bull employee in the form of chief engineer for race engineering Paul Monaghan, as RACER understands he has not informed the team of any desire to leave.

Monaghan is believed to have agreed a deal to join Cadillac, but Red Bull has not yet had official communication that he is planning to move. The highly rated engineer was the center of speculation during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend, when team boss Mekies refused to comment on individual cases.