Marc Priestley was part of the McLaren set up during the lows of the 2007, when Hamilton clashed explosively with team-mate Fernando Alonso, and the highs of 2008, when the Brit sealed his first F1 World Drivers’ Championship.
But throughout his career, Hamilton has found himself at odds with fellow drivers, especially those driving for the same team, with Alonso, Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button and Heikki Kovalainen all speaking publicly about problems with the three-time world champion.
And Priestley believes that Hamilton’s tendency to play media games can leave driving and non-driving team-mates feeling stuck in the middle.
“Once he came into the sport, it didn’t take him very long to start playing the game of an F1 driver,” Priestley told Express Sport ahead of the release of his book “The Mechanic: The Secret Life of the F1 Pit Lane”, chronicling his years at McLaren.
“That meant, particularly with a team-mate like Fernando, playing the PR and press game and using the media in certain ways.
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“When you’re working with Lewis and you see him doing it, using the team to his advantage in the media, you can get the wrong impression.
“You can kind of feel like you’re being a little bit used by him as a pawn in this game that he plays.
“That’s why I think lots of people find him un-genuine at times – and whether you’re a team-mate as a driver or a mechanic, you have that same experience.
“I’m not blaming him for it because in the world he inhabits, you have to play those games and it’s all about competitive advantage.”
But Priestley also believes that Hamilton’s desire to gain every possible edge over his rivals is what has driven him to the brink of four world crowns.
“When Lewis came in [to McLaren], he was this bright-eyed young kid who was hugely enthusiastic,” Priestley added.
“He was massively interested in everything that went on within Formula 1.
“He would come to me and just talk to us about what was going on with the race car and what things did, how they worked.
“Even when he was still a GP2 driver, he would come in and do this.
“I was hugely impressed with that. Not many other drivers had ever had that level of technical interest with the crew.
“When somebody has that willingness to understand everything, it makes you a better driver.”
***The Mechanic: The Secret Life of the F1 Pit Lane by Marc Priestley, published by Yellow Jersey, hits the shelves on November 2***