F1 rookies Bearman and Colapinto shine, beat experienced teammates

Colapinto, who crashed in FP1, but also recovered impressively. Like Bearman, in only his second Qualifying session the Argentinian 21-year-old drove like a veteran, 0.367s quicker than Albon in Q2. And bettering him again in Q3.

During the final Q3 shootout, Albon's effort was scuppered by a bizarre Williams team error in which a cooler was left attached to the car as it drove out of the pits and onto the track.

Nevertheless, Williams will 'own' the fifth row of the Baku grid on Sunday. Colapinto will line-up in P9 for his second GP and P10 for Albon for 87th race in the top flight, outqualified by his younger teammate in only their second GP as teammates.

Notably, in 22 attempts, Logan Sargeant (who Colapinto replaced) never out-qualified Albon once.

After a big hug from his mother, Colapinto reported afterwards: "To achieve Q3 in only my second Qualifying session in F1 is an amazing feeling for me and the team. I was not expecting to go into Q3 as I was just going session by session building up throughout.

"The car has been on point so far this weekend and I’ve been getting more comfortable with the car and learning a new track. I think we maximised almost every run we did today. We had a difficult start yesterday, but we’ve done a great job to turn it around. It was important to build my confidence up after the crash in FP1 especially at a street track.

"My mistake in FP1 meant I couldn’t do a long run which could hurt me tomorrow, but I think we can do our prep tonight and understand where I can improve. I’m proud of what we’re already achieving together as this is only the start with plenty of races left. Let’s see what we can do," added Colapinto.

Also impressive on Saturday, in his first race for Haas, standing in for Kevin Magnussen, Bearman got the ball rolling by out-qualifying Haas regular driver and F1 veteran Nico Hulkenberg, something the driver he is subbing for seldom does. The Ferrari-backed Englishman, who crashed in FP3 earlier on Saturday, bounced back in the best way possible.

Ironically, Bearman might have finished P10 had the sport's oldest and most experienced current driver Fernando Alonso (43) popped up ahead of the Haas teenager. Timing screens showed Bearman was a quarter second faster than Hulkenberg in Q2. They will line up on the grid in P11 and P14 respectively.

Bearman reflected on Qualifying for Haas, the team he will drive for next year: “It was a tough session. I was firstly lucky to get into Q2 because there was a double yellow out there which I lost a lot of time with, but I managed to scrape through.

"We were really on the limit to get into Q3 if it wasn’t for the mistake I made in the castle section. I’m quite disappointed in myself, not necessarily for qualifying but for FP3 where I lost a lot of laps and experience. I felt really comfortable in the car yesterday on my high-fuel run, so I have high hopes for the race," admitted the 19-year-old Englishman.

The way Ferrari-protege Bearman and Williams junior Colapinto out-performed, their vastly more experienced teammates, Hulkenberg and Albon, is thought-provoking. And raise questions: Does Formula 1 really have the ten best drivers in the world on the grid? Do some no longer belong while more deserve chances?