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Mercedes has confirmed the departure of Gwen Lagrue, its junior driver programme boss, ahead of the Frenchman’s impending Red Bull switch.
As previously reported by Autosport over the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, long-standing junior driver guru Lagrue is understood to be joining the Red Bull Formula 1 team in a similar role.
Neither party commented on the move until Monday afternoon, when Mercedes officially confirmed on its social media channels that Lagrue would be departing the Silver Arrows.
“Thank you Gwen. It’s been a great ride together,” Mercedes wrote in its farewell message. “Together, we’ve developed many young drivers, including our current F1 drivers George [Russell] and Kimi [Antonelli], and you’ve made a fantastic contribution.
“We have built a true successor to the original Mercedes-Benz junior team, and you leave in place a talented group to carry on this work. Professional relationships may come to an end, but we will always remain friends, with a shared mindset. We wish you well for your next challenge.”
That next challenge is expected to be Red Bull, where he would perform a similar role filling the void created by the retirement of long-time driver advisor Helmut Marko at the end of last year.
Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal and General Manager, Scuderia Ferrari, Gwen Lagrue, Mercedes Driver Development Advisor, Laurent Mekies, Team Principal, RB F1 Team
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Under Lagrue’s tenure, Mercedes brought the likes of Esteban Ocon and George Russell to F1 through the Mercedes junior programme.
Kimi Antonelli, who was spotted by Lagrue in go-karting at the age of 11, was the latest prospect that Mercedes fast-tracked through the single-seater ranks, culminating in an F1 debut at the age of 18 and title winning form in his sophomore year this season.
“With Kimi, I noticed quite quickly he was already a bit different than other kids in karting,” Lagrue told Autosport last year. “But back then my thought was: ‘Okay, he’s the best one I can have in go-karts’, not even thinking about Formula 1.
“Then when we did the first test in single-seaters, the way he adapted himself so quickly to pretty much every situation you started seeing that you have someone very special.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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