World champion Lewis Hamilton deserves all the money he earns from his new three-year contract with Mercedes, according to team director Niki Lauda.

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Austrian Lauda, a three-time world champion, was closely involved in the negotiations that led to the confirmation of a deal that is widely reported to be worth more than 100 million dollars.

His former McLaren team-mate and fellow Briton Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion, said he had heard of the money that Hamilton may earn. "It's amazing," he said.

Mercedes gave no details of the financial arrangements in their announcement Wednesday confirming the contract.

But Lauda said: "The world champions like Vettel, Alonso and Lewis all deserve roughly the same. They work for the money and they earn it.

"When you see how they drive and what they achieve, how Lewis has been driving, it is really something."