Mercedes' George Russell and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc exchanged several overtakes in the opening part of the Australian Grand Prix, but after a questionable Ferrari strategy decision - not pitting under two Virtual Safety Cars - Russell and teammate Kimi Antonelli delivered a one-two victory around 15 seconds ahead of the Scuderia.

Wolff reflected on Mercedes 'bouncing back' from a difficult ground-effect era post-2021, where the German team only won seven times in the four seasons since the last regulation overhaul and struggled for consistency in the Constructors' championship.

Speaking to media, including GPblog, Wolff said: "There's so much contentment that I feel in the team at the moment.

"We've had such a winning streak with these eight championships and then very difficult years, you know, we still won races and finished second in the championship, but a solid one-two where you feel a season ahead that means you can fight for a world championship, that wasn't for a long time."

Wolff added: "Most of all there's been a certain degree of contentment that Mercedes is back."

However, the Mercedes boss is not getting ahead of himself, adding that he sees Ferrari as a genuine title threat for 2026.

"When it comes to Ferrari, I knew before the race, people were saying ‘you're going to disappear in the distance looking at your long runs.’ And that wasn't the case.

"We knew that they were strong on the starts, and that's what happened. It was an out and out battle between Charles and George at the beginning.

"It was a three-way fight at a certain stage between two Ferraris and George, and eventually Kimi caught up. So for me, the prevailing feeling is now we have a fight on our hands with Ferrari.

Reflecting on the new 2026 regulations in action in Melbourne, Wolff still could not get away from Ferrari's strong pace at the beginning.

He said: 'I think how the regs are at the moment is that in a close fight, close proximity to other cars, it's very difficult to break free. And therefore, performances converge, which makes it exciting if it was really to continue like this.

Meanwhile, Wolff has also made headlines for a rumoured interest in the 24% stake in Alpine that is seemingly up for grabs, putting him in potentially direct competition with old rival Christian Horner, who looks for an F1 return.

Alpine have finally commented on the rumoured interest, after Mercedes told GPblog they were "being kept apprised of the latest developments."

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