(Reuters) – A canceled Formula One tire test meant McLaren reserve Lando Norris effectively flew all the way from Britain to Brazil this week just to take a bath.

The 18-year-old, racing in this weekend’s Macau F3 race, told reporters he was soaking in the bathtub after arriving in Sao Paulo when the two-day test at Interlagos was canceled for security reasons.

The Formula Three European champion then flew back to Paris, on to Shanghai and Macau.

“I had just got to the hotel in Brazil and was having a nice bath,” he told motorsport.com on Thursday after securing provisional pole position in Macau.

”I was reading the instruction manual to get used to all the buttons on the steering wheel of the McLaren as it takes quite a bit of time to get used to. Then I got the call that it got canceled.

“So I went back to having my bath…I can say that I literally went to Brazil for a bath. If anyone asks what is my best travel tale, it’s going to Brazil for a bath.”

The Pirelli tire test was canceled after armed robbers attacked team cars and vans outside the circuit at night during the weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix.

Four times world champion Lewis Hamilton said members of his Mercedes team were robbed of valuables at gunpoint.