Gerard Butler: Fan Friendly at the F1 Championships!

http://www.justjared.com/2013/11/17/gerard-butler-fan-friendly-at-the-f1-championships/


Gerard Butler: Fan Friendly at the F1 Championships!

Gerard Butler gives a thumbs up while hanging out in the paddock at the F1 Championships at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday (November 17) in Austin, Texas.

The 43-year-old Scottish actor seemed to be in great spirits as he walked around talking to various people and fans.

PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Gerard Butler

“Check out #Child31 to see how @MarysMeals is bringing food, education & hope to the children who need it most,” he recently tweeted.

The week before, Gerard looked dapper as he stepped out with a friend to grab a warm coffee at Starbucks in New York City.

An article about the events in Austin:


http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/motor/formula1/2013/11/15/f1-austin-parties-celebrities/3590701/


From Sting to bling, F1 parties create buzz in Austin
Rick Jervis, USA TODAY Sports 4:28 p.m. EST November 15, 2013
11-15-2013 justin bieber


AUSTIN – Who will get the pole position and what race team will garner the most points aren't the only questions circulating around the Circuit of the Americas track during the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix this weekend.

Fans attending the second-annual F1 event in Austin are also asking: Catch Sting at Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater on Saturday night or hit the nighttime rooftop pool party at RIO? Go for free fun in downtown Austin or splurge on Dom Pérignon at the famed Amber Lounge bash? How to get into the exclusive My Yacht Club party?

The post-race parties that come with F1 races are some of the glitziest and most exclusive on the planet and many are bringing their six-figure extravaganzas to Austin's nightclubs and venues.

Besides just elbow-rubbing with celebs, the parties help showcase some of Austin's homegrown musical talents, which are performing at some of the events, said Ginger Leigh, a local musician and organizer of the "Blu at the W" party at the W Hotel in downtown Austin.

"It's bringing a flashier culture to Austin," said Leigh, who organized parties during the inaugural F1 race in Austin last year as well. "It's also putting Austin on the international map."

Some of the more talked-about parties include:

Amber Lounge. Now in its 10thyear, the Amber Lounge has hosted top-shelf parties in places such as Shanghai, Monaco, Barcelona and Abu Dhabi. This weekend, organizers will host their first Austin party with a three-day bash starting Friday at The Copper Tank in downtown Austin. Prices range from $380 for a one-day pass to $34,850 for a "Methusalem Table" for eight guests which includes champagne, drinks and the snug knowledge that you're sitting at the best table in town. Past guests have included Bono, Kim Kardashian, Heidi Klum and Kid Rock.

My Yacht Club. Usually takes place on a yacht anchored in a shimmering bay in Monaco or Singapore. In landlocked Austin, the exclusive party will take place at Ballet Austin, transforming the venue into a three-day party with booze, DJs and "Golden Girl" hostesses (not the Bea Arthur type). Tickets range from $300 to $50,000; attendees have included actor Christian Slater, former tennis star Boris Becker, F1 driver Lewis Hamilton and Saudi and European royalty.

RIO. World-renown DJ ATB will provide the jams Saturday night as Las Vegas' Marquee Nightclub & Dayclub transforms the RIO rooftop pool and lounge in downtown Austin into a glitzy playground for the rich and wanna-be. Tickets range from $100 to $250.

ACL at Moody Theater. Sting will headline a weekend of live acts at the venerable Austin live music venue when he takes the stage Saturday night. Tickets range from $375 to $750. On Friday night, "The Best of Texas" show returns to ACL with a night of Lone Star performers, including Ray Benson and his band Asleep at the Wheel, Robert Earl Keen and Marcia Ball. Tickets offered from $85 to $285.

Blu at the W Hotel. The entire second floor of the downtown Austin hotel will thump Friday and Saturday with DJ music, top-shelf booze, celebrity sightings and a troupe of costumed Brazilian dancers. Tickets range from $50 for general admission to $16,000 for more specialized attention.

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Gerard Butler, Antonio Banderas Rev Up the Star Quotient at Formula 1's U.S. Grand Prix

Adrien Grenier, Melanie Griffith, Val Kilmer and Oscar-winning sound designer Per Hallberg also were among those in Austin for the race's second outing there.

AUSTIN -- Antonio Banderas, Melanie Griffith, Val Kilmer, Gerard Butler and Sting were among the celebs checking out the Formula 1 race cars on the start grid of the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin on Sunday before watching driver Sebastian Vettel set a record eight-in-a-row victory.


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The Grand Prix’s second outing in Austin brought out a larger contingent from Hollywood, which is helping to burnish the F1 brand in the U.S. The elite international auto-racing event seems to gradually be taking hold Stateside (where NASCAR racing has dominated). Last year’s inaugural race also attracted some entertainment names, including directors George Lucas and Ron Howard.

“What’s amazing about this place is not only the race itself but the event that’s being created through the true Texas hospitality of this city,” American F1 champ Mario Andretti said while relaxing on the terrace outside of Ferrari’s headquarters behind the pits. Andretti is also an official ambassador for the Austin race facility, Circuit of the Americas.

The organizers at Circuit of the Americas made an effort to invite film, TV, music and sports talent this year. But many Hollywood folks also seemed to have made the trek to Austin on their own.

Oscar-winning sound designer Per Hallberg was at the race visiting friends who are involved with the Marussia F1 team. The Swede said it was his first Grand Prix visit, though he’s been a fan of the sport for years.

“I’ve always wanted to go the Monaco Grand Prix, but I’m almost always busy on a film when that race happens [in late May]," he said. "I decided it was finally time for me to go. And Austin is closer to Los Angeles.” But Hallberg was quick to add he’ll be straight back to work on New Line’s Into the Storm on Monday morning.

The Grand Prix event also infused the relatively down-to-earth city with some serious bling this past weekend. Austin’s streets were overrun with Ferraris, McLarens and Rolex-wearing Europeans and Latin Americans. Adding to the glam were various celebs, many of whom were making the rounds at pop-up clubs and parties downtown. Butler, Adrian Grenier, Joy Bryant, Jennie Garth and chef Gordon Ramsay were among those at the Amber Lounge, where rapper Taboo from the Black Eyed Peas performed.

Boxer Jake LaMotta and actors Matt LeBlanc and Rick Yune rolled into another F1 pop-up, My Yacht Club, where a table with two Methusalem (six-liter) champagne went for $50,000. (The club is donating a portion of the sales to its host venue, Ballet Austin.)

Austin additionally put on free Fan Fest — four nights of live concerts on multiple outdoor stages around downtown, with Los Lobos and Lou Gramm among the performances.

A Best of Great Britain event on Friday night kicked things off by motoring in Texas Gov. Rick Perry in a Union Jack-covered McLaren to mingle with former U.K. F1 drivers Sir Jackie Stewart, Damon Hill and Martin Brundle.