According to information from our sister site Motorsport.com, Mercedes has found a successor for Helmut Marko, the former head of the Red Bull Junior Program
According to information from our sister site Motorsport.com, Red Bull has found a successor for Helmut Marko’s role. Specifically, it is the long-time head of the junior program at Mercedes. Neither of the two racing teams has yet officially commented on this story.
Gwen Lagrue was previously active in karting and rally racing before deciding to apply his skills to managing young drivers. After establishing his reputation as a freelancer, then-Lotus team principal Eric Boullier hired the scout on a permanent basis for what is now the Alpine team.
During his time at Enstone, Lagrue discovered future Formula 1 drivers such as Esteban Ocon and Alexander Albon, among others. Lagrue has a special relationship with the current Williams driver.
The BBC reports that Albon was advised by Lagrue for a time after being dropped from the Red Bull program in 2016. Thanks to the manager’s advice and the opportunity to finance further steps in his career, Albon ultimately found his way into Grand Prix racing. He would later even race for Red Bull.
Mercedes Talents Nurtured Thanks to Lagrue
His first day with the Silver Arrows in 2016 is also worth noting. After all, Lagrue was promptly tasked in his new role with preventing the then-very-young George Russell from making the move to the DTM.
At the time, BMW had offered the current Mercedes driver a factory seat in the racing series. Instead of making the move to touring car racing, Lagrue advised the young driver to continue pursuing his goals in single-seater racing—under the wing of Mercedes.
Lagrue also recognized Kimi Antonelli’s talent early on and paved the way for the current Mercedes driver to join the Silver Arrows. The organization of the junior program will need to be adjusted following Lagrue’s departure. According to the BBC, ten people are currently working to identify the best talent for the Silver Arrows from karting and support them throughout their careers.
Marko served as a consultant for Red Bull in motorsports for many years. In this role, the former Formula 1 driver was responsible, in no small part, for developing young talent and paved the way for drivers like Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen to Milton Keynes. At the end of 2025, the end of this collaboration was announced.