Zak Brown claims Red Bull are “afraid” of Max Verstappen in fresh attack

McLaren boss Zak Brown has launched a fresh attack on Max Verstappen and Red Bull in his new book.

Writing in Seven Tenths of a Second, Brown has suggested that Red Bull are “afraid” of the four-time world champion.

Brown used the example of Red Bull overlooking Carlos Sainz as a potential teammate last year as proof that the team is solely built around Verstappen — and keeping him happy.

Verstappen remains in F1 title contention ahead of this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.

With three rounds to go, Verstappen is 49 points behind McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Verstappen will need to end the season with three consecutive grand prix wins to have a realistic shot at the title. 

Norris can afford to finish second to Oscar Piastri in the remaining rounds to secure the championship.

Brown, who has dominated media headlines over the past week with various interviews as he promotes his new book, wrote about how Red Bull are “subservient” to Verstappen.

“The other example is Max Verstappen’s rule at Red Bull. I say ‘rule’ on purpose,” Brown wrote.

“Sometimes, way before Christian Horner is fired in the middle of the 2025 season, it actually feels like Max is running the team.

“Everyone seems to be subservient to him. Everyone seems to be afraid of him.

“The car is tailored to Max, to a point where it seems difficult for anyone else to drive it effectively.

“Red Bull tend not to choose a second driver who will pose any threat to Max, otherwise Carlos Sainz would have been an obvious choice [for 2025].”

Red Bull “terrified” of losing Verstappen

Even though Red Bull have been unable to give Verstappen a car capable of beating McLaren consistently, he has committed his future to the team for 2026.

Verstappen was heavily linked with a switch to Mercedes for 2026 amid Red Bull’s poor form.

Christian Horner’s exit in the summer led to Verstappen publicly saying he would remain at Red Bull next year.

Naturally, the rumour mill will once again go into overdrive next year if Red Bull struggle with the new regulations as they run their own engine for the first time.

Brown believes Red Bull favouring Verstappen is solely down to being scared of losing him, leading to them becoming a “one-man team”.

“Max is a brilliant driver and they are terrified of losing him, and the way they have chosen to do that is to keep him happy above all else,” Brown added.

“If that means becoming a one-man team, a driver’s own little empire, they are willing to do that.

“That’s not how I want to lead at McLaren. And to be fair to Ron [Dennis] and Mansour [Ojjeh], who ran McLaren for so long, that’s not the way they wanted to do things either.

“That kind of unfairness, that stifling of competition, is not part of our company ethos.”