The Silver Arrows struggled with the post-2022 crop of cars, achieving only seven wins in the four seasons since the last regulation overhaul and struggling for consistency in the Constructors' championship.

Now though, Wolff is confident that Mercedes, particularly George Russell, has made "another step" as the Brackley-based team chase championship glory for the first time since 2021.

Speaking to Sky Sports post-qualifying, Wolff said: "I'm so happy that those messy ground effect cars are gone and finally we do what we are best at.

Wolff also praised Russell's teammate Kimi Antonelli, who finished three tenths behind in P2, but tempered expectations around the young Italian despite being close to the Briton on "pure speed."

He added: "I think in pure speed terms, he's absolutely there. He's in his second year of Formula 1, George is nine or ten. All around you need experience so, I think it would be early days for Kimi to compare himself to George."

Albeit with a little help from Verstappen's Q1 exit, the Mercedes boss also praised his team for getting Antonelli's car out on time for qualifying, after the youngster suffered a hefty crash in the morning's practice session.

"That car looked like a Lego Formula 1 car that was thrown on the floor like literally two hours before, and I said to them that five minutes before the start of the session we wouldn't make it.

Charles Leclerc has tempered expectations around Ferrari's race starts, previously tipped to be a major advantage for the Scuderia, after Mercedes' dominant qualifying performance.

At the Bahrain winter test, a reported smaller turbo gave Ferrari a rocket-like launch off the line, as Hamilton breezed past front-running cars from a P9 grid position during one particular practice start, but Leclerc has claimed the team's advantage is not as big as previously thought.