After a reset of the title battle with his victory in Monaco, Lando Norris has the opportunity to show whether Formula One’s pre-season favorite is back in the Spanish Grand Prix.

Norris' performance on Monte Carlo Street is a huge member of what he now calls home, a criticism that has been received since winning the Australian Grand Prix early this season. He looked like the driver who started the campaign again, and it was the obvious choice for the first-place driver champion.

In the round between Melbourne and Monaco, preseason favorites are neither pole nor podium top strides. McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri won four of six races as they fell into a championship-leading lead and flipped the narrative of Zak Brown’s drivers, seemingly more prepared to take the opportunity and become a world champion. Worse, Max Verstappen - the other two Grand Prix champions - continues to be Norris' thorns.

He trailed Piastri by as much as 16 points, but Norris's victory in Monaco restored the gap to three points. It's a game, smart money says that as the season unfolds, the dynamic between the two McLaren drivers will gradually fade away.

Norris licked this year but was swaying in a press conference following his overdue victory, and McLaren's principal Andrea Stella said "cold blood is needed" to stand out in an incredibly tense environment.

"It's all bullshit," Norris said Sunday night. "People can write down what they want. It's not my decision. People have their own opinions and they can do all of these things. The truth is, none of them are real, 99% of the time."

Norris's stimulation contrasts with certain aspects that he himself and McLaren struggle to master.

Before last weekend, qualifying was a big kick. Until this year, Norris' strong Saturday table contrasted with Piastri, who had been inconsistent in the first two seasons in F1, something the Australians were committed to address during the offseason. This year's situation has swayed by 180 degrees. McLaren's aggressive development of class-leading MCL39 created a car that could become unstable when performing the knife edge, and in many cases the Norris-Saudi Arabia Arabia's qualifying crash is the worst case. Although Piastri looks like a picture of consistency for most of April and May, Norris' form is twisting.

This explains why Norris is so happy with the record-making circle around the streets of Monaco, the fastest track ever. He later said he was proud that his children could say they won the Monaco Grand Prix, a victory in the hat he was able to play the day before.

"I'm very proud of (pole)," Norris said. "I'm more satisfied with (victory). That's what yesterday means to me, bringing my groove back into qualifying because it's my whole life. It's been good until this year. Until this year. And I had to try hard and have had some tough competition from it.

Monaco is the second of three consecutive F1 games. This weekend's Spanish Grand Prix will be a turn against the Norris we saw in Monte Carlo, or whether the yo yoing form will resume. McLaren's stricter tests around Flexi Front Wings this weekend would reduce McLaren's usual advantage, but even then it's hard to imagine papaya color not fighting for pole position and victory.

Norris himself admitted that he didn't believe he was back 100% last weekend. His relationship with MCL39 was a tricky one and he has been speaking out about his frustration since day one.

"I've been working hard for this confidence in getting back to Australia over the last few months," he said. "I'm feeling (in Monaco) is a big step, but it's not. It's not that I've nailed it now and everything is back. I still need to do something. There are still things - as a team, as a team, they gave me equipment, I gave me a faster car, but it's about making me stand out from the year soon.

These are the key races of Norris and Piastri. Their in-team championship battle is evident from 2007 – two McLaren riders in the fastest car, Verstappen plays Kimi Räikkönen as a wildcard role on a rival team – but so far the season lacks any venom. Instead, both of them looked like “that guy” and the other looked uncomfortable with the car.

From a statement point of view, Spain is important for both situations. Win and Norris won the title from their teammates, catching up in time for Canada and the subsequent European round. Finding himself back to second place among his exciting teammates, this narrative will soon be dragged back again.