Colapinto takes Van Amersfoort Racing’s maiden F3 pole on debut in Bahrain

Colapinto rose to the top of the timesheets with just under 10 minutes to go as the rookie impressed on his first-ever F3 outing.

It was also Van Amersfoort's first outing in F3 after taking over from HWA Racelab for this season.

The Argentine edged out Trident's Roman Stanek by just under 0.1s to secure pole position for Sunday's feature race. 

Stanek led the way for the majority of the session but was ultimately toppled by Colapinto at Sakhir.

Kush Miani was another driver to impress on his first F3 weekend, securing third overall for MP Motorsport.

Miani ended up just over a tenth shy of Colapinto's 1m46.322s but he will be happy with his first qualifying outing in F3.

Gregoire Saucy led the way for ART Grand Prix ahead of teammates Victor Martins and Juan Manuel Correa.

Zane Maloney was seventh quickest ahead of Aleksandr Smolyar, who will compete under a neutral licence after the FIA's decision to not allow Russian drivers to compete under their own nationality. 

Isack Hadjar and David Vidales rounded out the top 10.

It was a disappointing session for Prema as Oliver Bearman was its best qualifier in 11th.

Arthur Leclerc could only manage 14th on the grid, while Jak Crawford was down in 21st.

Click here for the full FIA Formula 3 qualifying results for the opening round in Bahrain