Senior figures at Red Bull are afraid of Max Verstappen to the point they have become totally subservient to him, according to McLaren chief Zak Brown. The reigning world champion has been repeatedly linked with a move away from Red Bull, with Mercedes having openly courted him for years. He remains tied down until 2028 but rumours of a potential exit are refusing to subside.

Verstappen has been the main man at Red Bull for a long time, having cemented his place among the greatest drivers in history. He has also made plenty of enemies, with Brown among those to have been a consistent critic of the 28-year-old. Writing in his new book, Seven Tenths of a Second, the McLaren chief executive made a series of bold claims about the internal dynamic at Red Bull.

He believes senior figures within the team are 'terrified' of losing Verstappen and have become 'subservient' to him, citing their decision to overlook a move for Carlos Sainz at the end of last season.

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

"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."

Brown went on to accuse Red Bull of 'stifling competition' by placing Verstappen's needs above everybody else in the 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," added the American.

"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."

Verstappen looks set to be denied a fifth straight Drivers' Championship title, with Lando Norris the clear favourite to secure the end-of-season honours.

There's still a slim chance that Verstappen could pull off the comeback of all comebacks, but he will need to hope for an incredible stroke of luck.