Th♏e respective salaries of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon could be a factor at Williams next season, it has been touted.

Williams have completed a huge deal to attr🌼act outgoing Ferrari driver S♈ainz to their team for the next two years at least.

He will partner with Albon in an💞 exciting-looking duo - but will either be given the ‘No 1 driver’ status by team boss James Vowlღes?

“I don’t think there will 💛necessarily be a No1 driver,” Bernie Collins said on the Sky F1 podcast.

“It’ll be whoever is scoring the most points gets t❀he most oppo⛦rtunity.”

But Craig Slater responded: “Sainz will s𒈔urely be paid a lot more than Albo🥀n?

“I gather that t🎃he terms Williams were able to pay him were cℱomparable to the big-money Audi deal.

“It’s an interesting aside at any sports team when that is the case. Yo🃏u often get footballers insisting they are the hig꧙hest-paid player on the team. It’s pure ego and priority in their mind that they are the favoured one.

“They won’t overtly favour Sainz. But [Sainz and Aꦕlbon] have come to the team in a different dynamic.

“Carlos has come iꦺn as unlucky to be left out at Ferrari, and still winning races.

“Williams have helped Albon fantastically revitalise his♚ career🅰.

“It’s a♏n inཧteresting dynamic. They aren’t equal in terms of what they’re being paid. That’s often a marker.”

Sainz was ousted at Ferrari by the 2025 blockbuster arrival of Lewis Hamilto🎃n.

But, even amid Red Bull’s domination of F1, Ferrari’s Sainz won last year’s Singapore Grand Prix and the Australian Grand Prix at🦩 the star💧t of this season.

The addition of a multi-time grand prix winner is a major addition to the ever-improving Williams, and a bl☂ow to Sauber/Audi and Alpine who also chased Sainz.