They ran the gamut from the upper crust to the just plain crusty.
Some fans for the first United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas munched on lobster salad and sipped champagne at the Paddock Club perched above the race car pits.
Others ate Outlaw Grill sausages and downed Bud Lights while lounging in fold-up chairs planted on the green slopes above the track.
Uniting these fans was a sense of unreality.
“I’m on sensory overload,” said Sylvia Jabour of Austin’s Twin Liquors family, who hung out in luxury suites and enjoyed private tours of the high-tech garages.
Husband and native Austinite David Jabour chimed in: “I feel like I’m not in Austin.”
The city’s Formula One critics would agree that the track’s modern resort design and the ultra-high-speed race don’t fit the traditional images of Austin.
Yet those who filled every viewing spot appeared to accept the unworldly spectacle as one of Austin’s many new normals.
“It’s all fantastic,” said chip designer Stefan Creaser, originally from Cheshire, U.K. but an Austinite for 15 years. “If you’re going to build a track in Texas, put it here. Austin is becoming such an international city.”
London’s Richard Beanland, who socialized in the recreational vehicle-with-a-view zone, said the circuit was already superb.
“But give it a couple of years to settle in,” he said. “Austin hasn’t grabbed on yet. It will.”
Beanland and his wife, Emma Beanland, stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel, temporary neighbors to Formula One czar Bernie Eccelstone and several race drivers.
Waving a huge Brazilian flag, Leonardo Machadi, a personal driver, and Thialos Silva, a carpenter, were rooting for their countrymen. They had attended other F1 races in this hemisphere and found this one “amazing.”
Hiromi and Yusuke Imamura arrived from Toyko to report on the event for the Top News website. After three days, they concluded that the circuit combined the best qualities of Japanese, British and Turkish sites.
“People here are very kind,” Hiromi Imamura added. “And the steak is really good.”
In the garage inspecting the Sahara Team India cars as a brightly clad team prepped them before the 1 p.m. race, Dallas salesman Trent Roberts expressed awe at the technology.
“Their computers look like something out of a flight control tower,” Roberts said. “I saw a classic cars race the other night. It’s like going from World War II bombers to Stealth fighters.”
At the Paddock Club overlooking the line of sidewalk cafes that serviced the racing teams, Denise O’Sullivan, originally from Ireland but now living in Florida, was impressed with the celebrities — Patrick Dempsey, Jackie Stewart, Matt LeBlanc — who were in such easy reach.
“But it’s also the weather and hospitality,” she said. “It’s been phenomenal.”
At one point, the Jabours were sitting a few feet away from Carlos Slim, the world’s richest man, and Enrique Peña Nieto, the president elect of Mexico.
Shaun Cardinal of Winnipeg and Jon Lam of Calgary welcomed another grand prix race to North America. “It’s the home crowd excitement,” Cardinal said. “We went out and about in Austin and visited every kiosk.”
“One hundred percent we are coming back,” Lam said.
Chris and Laura Aidan of Austin were just as impressed with the Ferrari race that preceded the main event.
“With a Ferrari, I can imagine myself behind the wheel,” Chris Aidan said. “Nobody is every going to let me drive their F1.”
Some guests found fault. “The food could be better,” said Austin gelato maker Laura Coe. “Bring on more food tailers. It’s not like Austin doesn’t know how to do this.”
Ron Morelli of Orlando suggested a little Disney-style innovation when it comes to ferrying guests around the enormous grounds.
“And they should have drinks waiting for you,” he said, half-kidding. “This is a long time to wait for a bloody Mary!”
Lawyers Rodrigo Penichet and Claudia Lopez of Mexico City would definitely come back every year.
“Or I hope so,” Penichet said. “If the economy is good.”
“It exceeded all my expectations,” said Austin financial planner Austin Spencer during the hour-long shuttle ride back downtown. “I give the city a big round of applause. I’m a critical person and I have nothing to complain about.”
“Formula One has arrived,” says Austin track investor Philip Berber. “And it’s never going to leave town.”
Photos to come