Following its restructuring at the end of the 2014 season and Sebastian Vettel’s three wins last season, it was believed the Scuderia would rise to the occasion and properly upset Mercedes’ dominance.

Unfortunately, Ferrari’s ambitions have not yet come to fruition, which Wolff regrets.

“Ferrari is a great brand with capable people, and it would have been good fun to fight it out on track,” said the Mercedes boss.

“For whatever reason, in the most recent races they haven’t been able to perform to their levels – to the levels they expect to perform and we expect them to perform.

While he’ll take his Silver Arrows dominance any day of the week, Wolff believes closer competition among the top teams would better serve Formula 1’s interests.

“For me the battle with Ferrari would be great for Formula 1, and even if this sounds a little absurd, I was very much looking forward to it.

“I hope they find their strengths again and we fight it out on track.”

The Mercedes boss isn’t discarding the Scuderia altogether however, and believes next year’s change of regulations may just revive the Italian outfit’s luster.

“I don’t think you can write Ferrari off. They have clearly had a tough time recently, and I think they switched off very early for 2017.

“Never underestimate a team with so much resources and so much passion. That would be my view.”