All eyes on City Council as F1 discussed

How much worldwide interest has Austin received since plans to host Formula One races starting in 2012 were announced in May?

A lot, judging by the number of places where people watched yesterday’s City Council meeting in which F1-related issues were discussed.

On Twitter, people from Los Angeles; San Francisco; Seattle; Vermont; Portland, Ore., Kansas and Great Britain said they were watching the meeting via live video feed online.

Council Member Mike Martinez said it was the first time he had heard of people from so many places tuning in to watch a meeting.

“London, Spain, Altanta, California … pretty amazing the worldwide eyes that will be on Austin now," he said.

The live feed on the city’s website cut out sporadically during the F1 discussions, although it’s not immediately clear whether that was related to a surge in traffic. The Statesman