Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel says that the team are "back" after taking pole position in Sochi just ahead of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.
Saturday's qualifying result was Ferrari's first front-row lock-out in nine years, with Mercedes missing out for the first time in 31 races.
"We're full of joy and very happy that we're back, at least if you talk about the front row for Saturday and obviously take the momentum into the race tomorrow," explained Vettel.
Vettel's team-mate Raikkonen held provisional pole position for most of Q3, until the German edged him out by a tenth of a second in the final moments with a lap time of 1:33.194.
"I think the car was phenomenal this afternoon, it's really a pleasure to take a seat and go around with low fuel and just try and push it to the limit," added Vettel.
"If you look at the first three races, I think we had a good start to the season."
Mercedes drivers Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton sit just behind the Ferraris heading into Sunday's race as they took third and fourth in Q3 after struggling to maintain tyre life through the final sector.
"Obviously in qualifying Mercedes has been very very strong. Maybe the track, maybe how we handled the tyres, I don't know, it doesn't matter in the end, we are in front, it's a good thing, a great achievement and we managed the car a little bit for this race," Vettel explained.
"I'm sure it will be very close tomorrow, especially on the long run."
Will Ferrari stay ahead of the pack in Sochi? Watch the Russian GP weekend with Sky Sports F1. The race begins at 1pm on Sunday. Check out all the ways to watch live F1 on Sky Sports for subscribers and non-subscribers - including a NOW TV day pass for £6.99!