Red Bull hire Lagrue from Mercedes to lead Junior Programme in 2027

Red Bull has announced that it has appointed Gwen Lagrue as Director of the Red Bull Junior Programme for the 2027 season.

Lagrue will join the team next year having spent more than a decade with Mercedes, and will essentially replace Helmut Marko who left Red Bull at the end of 2025.

"Gwen is one of the very best talent developers in F1 and I know first-hand the expertise, leadership and passion he brings to developing young drivers," said Team Principal Laurent Mekies.

"The Red Bull Junior Programme has always been a cornerstone of Red Bull's success, and having Gwen lead it soon reflects the importance we continue to place on developing the next generation of F1 talent.

"We want to recognise another time today the extraordinary contribution Helmut Marko has made over more than two decades creating and leading the Junior Programme. The Junior Programme has become the benchmark in F1 because of his vision, commitment and ability to identify and develop exceptional talents and he deserves enormous credit for that.

"As we continue to build the next chapter of Oracle Red Bull Racing, attracting leaders of Gwen's calibre is fundamental to achieving our ambitions. We're strengthening our high-performance organisation with outstanding people in every part of the business, and Gwen is an important addition of that journey. Together, we will build on an incredibly strong foundation while continuing to evolve the programme for the future."

Red Bull's Junior Programme has become one of the strongest on the Formula 1 grid over several decades, with the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon having come through the ranks.

More recently, Arvid Lindblad was promoted to Racing Bulls this season, while F2 championship leader Nikola Tsolov is expected to move into the top tier of single-seater racing in future.

"Joining Oracle Red Bull Racing marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for me," said Lagrue, who helped discover Kimi Antonelli during his tenure with Mercedes.

"After eleven memorable years at Mercedes, I felt this was the right moment to take on a new challenge and continue growing personally and professionally.

"The Red Bull Junior Programme is one of the most respected and successful driver development programmes in motorsport. It has produced some of the greatest talents F1 has ever seen, and it is a real honour to have the opportunity to lead such a talented group of people and help shape its next chapter.

"I'm looking forward to working closely with Laurent as well as the entire team and I am very thankful for this opportunity.

"Together, we have a fantastic framework to build on the programme's remarkable legacy, continue to evolve it for the future, and identify, develop and prepare the next generation of F1 race winners and World Champions, following a pattern Oracle Red Bull Racing has successfully repeated over the past 20 years."