It may have only been a short line near the bottom of an article about the Spanish race, but the words published earlier this week on Ferrari’s official website must have hit home to Felipe Massa and his legion of fans. “Everyone, he more than anyone, is expecting a change of gear starting right away,” it read.

Lotus have been one of the surprise packages of 2012 to date.

Following Sunday’s dramatic fire in the Williams garage after the Spanish Grand Prix, the team have confirmed that a further two team members have now been released from hospital and have returned home after receiving treatment for smoke inhalation. One Williams staff member remains in hospital in Spain having suffered burns in the incident.

Pastor Maldonado had been quick throughout final practice and qualifying, but few seriously expected him to win the Spanish Grand Prix. Those in the know were tipping Lotus for glory and the black and gold cars did ultimately prove quickest – just not over 66 laps. Instead Maldonado defied his critics with a faultless maiden victory, in a superbly balanced Williams FW34, making him the fifth winner of 2012

Williams’ celebrations of Pastor Maldonado’s Spanish Grand Prix victory have been cut dramatically short after a fire broke out in the team’s garage shortly after the race, engulfing the Barcelona pit lane in thick smoke. Mechanics from various teams took immediate action to extinguish the flames

After a bizarre Q3 session in which even the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher declined to set times in the name of tyre strategy, things got even stranger when Lewis Hamilton lost his pole position due to a rule infringement. Williams’ Pastor Maldonado thus starts from P1 on the grid for the first time in his F1 career, but what was really going on in Barcelona on Saturday

Lewis Hamilton was one of the few top drivers absent from last week’s Mugello test. And while Jenson Button’s Friday pace in Spain showed that McLaren’s test drivers no doubt did their job in Italy, Hamilton was not quite so happy with his MP4-27. He is convinced, however, that there’s no major issue.

A glance at the 2012 driver standings shows that in terms of points at least, just like Nico Rosberg at Mercedes, Paul di Resta is the man currently delivering for Force India. Fresh from his eight-point haul in Bahrain – but a less satisfactory Mugello test – Di Resta is looking to continue his upward trajectory in Barcelona this weekend

With pole position and victory at the season opener in Melbourne, 2012 couldn’t have started better for McLaren. Since then, though, hampered by tyre issues and pit-stop problems, they have not won a race. Team principal Martin Whitmarsh is confident that could change this weekend, as McLaren arrive in Spain with refined pit-stop procedures and an MP4-27 featuring several updates, including a new higher nose

Caterham test driver Alexander Rossi will become the first American to participate in a Grand Prix weekend in almost five years when he replaces Heikki Kovalainen in next Friday’s opening practice session in Spain. Rossi, a veteran of single-seater series including GP2 and GP3, made his last F1 appearance for the team in November’s young driver test in Abu Dhabi and this year is competing in Formula Renault 3.5