The Mercedes driver scout concerned in discovering Kimi Antonelli is leaving the crew to affix rivals Pink Bull.
Frenchman Gwen Lagrue, 50, is to take up a brand new function main Pink Bull’s driver improvement programme.
Lagrue has been recruited primarily as a alternative for Helmut Marko, who retired from his long-time function as Pink Bull’s motorsport adviser on the finish of final yr.
Pink Bull crew principal Laurent Mekies, Mercedes and Lagrue himself all declined to remark when approached by BBC Sport.
It’s unclear when Lagrue might be free to take up his new function.
Mercedes and Pink Bull are within the technique of negotiating an settlement that may see him launched from his current contract as driver improvement adviser to the Mercedes F1 crew.
At Mercedes, his function will doubtless be crammed by a minor reshuffle of the present young-driver programme, arguably the simplest in F1.
Bradley Lord, who was already concerned, was just lately promoted to deputy crew principal from his earlier place as communications director and senior adviser to crew principal Toto Wolff.
Mercedes have a crew of as much as 10 individuals analysing the junior classes, proper right down to the very junior ranges of karting, to seek out promising new expertise.
Lagrue has labored for Mercedes for a decade.
George Russell was the primary signing for the crew following his appointment, a couple of months after the Briton famously approached Wolff and gave him a PowerPoint presentation arguing his case to be a part of the Mercedes junior programme.
Russell has been supported by Mercedes since then as he accomplished the junior classes, was seconded to Williams for an F1 debut in 2019 after which promoted to Mercedes in 2022.
Mercedes signed Antonelli when he was an 11-year-old racing in go-karts and he has been mentored by Mercedes by way of an accelerated programme that noticed him substitute Lewis Hamilton within the crew when the seven-time champion joined Ferrari initially of 2025.
Antonelli is proving his billing as a generational expertise in dominating the F1 world championship in solely his second season.
The 19-year-old has gained 5 races and set six pole positions in 10 grands prix thus far this season earlier than Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix and is main Russell by 25 factors.
Amongst different successes at Mercedes whereas Lagrue has been operating the young-driver programme are Frenchman Esteban Ocon, who was their junior driver and has been managed by them by way of his 10-year profession in F1 at Manor, Pressure India, Renault/Alpine and now Haas, and their present F1 reserve driver, the Dane Frederik Vesti.
Lagrue additionally personally supported present Williams driver Alex Albon when he was dropped by Marko from Pink Bull’s driver improvement programme in 2016.
He helped Albon with profession recommendation and in sourcing finances to additional his profession till the Anglo-Thai rejoined Pink Bull for his F1 debut for the second crew, then referred to as Toro Rosso, in 2019.
