Shanghai Daily news

Apart from winning tomorrow’s inaugural Chinese Grand Prix, the biggest issue concerning Jim Wright is how to deal with “changes”.
Wright is the head of marketing of the BMW Williams team.
The night before yesterday’s timed practice session, Wright gave a lecture at a packed hall at Tongji University.
“There is a great F1 appetite rising along with the grand prix in China,” said Wright, who has been involved in the world’s most expensive sport for nearly 20 years.
Williams had a good practice result yesterday with Ralf Schumacher finishing the first session as the second fastest ahead of his teammate Juan Pablo Montoya.
But good changes were not the whole firstday story for Williams.
Jason Button’s contract recognition board will not take place until October 16 because the parties who are arguing about the Englishman’s future were not ready in time for the last session that was originally scheduled yesterday.
“For team management we should always plan things beforehand but sometimes you just have no choice but to wait,” Wright says.
Williams is keen to grab Button for its driver line-up next year which will also feature
Australian Mark Webber to replace Juan Pablo Montoya.
Other than the driver reshuffle, it’s the costcutting issue that really drives the team
management to distraction.
While Max Mosley is confident about bringing more teams into Formula One with the rule changes which are said to reduce the gap between Ferrari and other teams, bad news keeps dampening this hope.
At a late Thursday FIA conference, Flavio Briatore was red-faced when asked to talk about the withdrawal of Ford Motor Company and the effect it will have on no fewer than three of the 10 existing teams.
“At least we will not see the picture for 2005,” Wright responded to Mosley’s optimism,
“and I think we’d better think about how to more rationally use the current resources.”
Williams has opposed FIA’s suggestion of replacing the 3-liter V10 engine with the cheaper 2.8-liter V8 one, arguing that the process of replacement could have cost more.
Change is not only a big issue for teams but also influences F1 sponsors’ strategy.
Sholto Douglas-Home, global head of marketing communications channels of Williams’major  sponsor Reuters, also flew from London to Shanghai and came to visit the international circuit without a break.
Reuter is going towards its fifth year.
“We have committed resources on the ground in China and remain very committed to its financial growth and now with the Chinese Grand Prix emerging, we are kind of combining our Asia strategy with the sponsorship for BMW Williams,” Douglas- Home said.
Which means the racing team has to get more exposure.
At the beginning of the season, Williams thought it had established a strategic relationship with CCTV and Shanghai International Circuit by putting their logos on the front wing of FW-26.
But when it went into the circuit’s inaugural ceremony in June, the circuit was planning on inviting Ferrari.
Despite this, Wright said the relationship between Williams and China is developing steadily.