Red Bull has captured the Mercedes talent scout who helped discover Formula 1 championship leader Kimi Antonelli, in a move that team sources say is an important step in its bid to return to the top.
As first revealed by BBC Sport, Gwen Lagrue has agreed to leave Mercedes and join rival Red Bull.
The Race understands that Lagrue, who has been with Mercedes for a decade and helped guide several drivers into F1, is to become the head of Red Bull's junior driver programme.
At Red Bull, Lagrue will take on a lot of the responsibilities that were under the remit of its former motorsport advisor Helmut Marko before he left at the end of last season.
It is understood that no date for Lagrue's move has been agreed yet between Mercedes and Red Bull, as discussions take place between the teams about a timeline for the transition.
Mercedes also needs to work out who best to take over the running of its own successful young driver programme, with its current line-up of Antonelli and George Russell having come through it.
One possibility is that Bradley Lord, who stepped up earlier this year to become deputy team principal, will take on more responsibility on this front.
Team principal Toto Wolff said after the Belgian Grand Prix: "We're in discussions with Gwen about the future, but nothing's been agreed or decided yet.
"Gwen has built up a fantastic team, about seven, eight or nine people that are running the junior programme, going forward, with a handful of juniors.
"With Bradley stepping up as a deputy team principal, things need to be carved out now, we want to do it together with Gwen. We'll see."
Red Bull has not made any official comment on the matter.
However, the capture of Lagrue comes with the Frenchman having known compatriot Laurent Mekies for a long time, with their paths having crossed many times in F1.
Having now had a full year in charge of Red Bull to fully understand its workings, Mekies is focused on strengthening the team in areas he thinks are critical for the future.
Lagrue's signing is viewed as important in showing how serious Red Bull is in laying foundations for the long term, and is a demonstration that it is attractive to high-quality people who have helped win championships elsewhere.
One source said Mekies was determined to pull together the right people with the right mindset and spirit to push the team on.
Lagrue's arrival will also counter an impression from the outside that Red Bull has only been losing people, following the departures of several leading figures over the past 12 months.
So while there have been some high-profile recent exits, including Max Verstappen's race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase agreeing to join McLaren and chief engineer Paul Monaghan's future in doubt amid links to Cadillac, the signing of someone such as Lagrue will demonstrate conviction from a respected paddock figure that Red Bull has a strong future.
This could act as an important signal in convincing other senior personnel to have faith in joining the Red Bull project too.
from The Race https://ift.tt/6wMjQKD
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