Did Saruman Believe He Could Master The One Ring?

[the phantom]

I think Sauron only sent one Nazgul because that Nazgul was the closest one. Sure, he could've gathered them all together and sent them in force, but why wait? His precious, his key to absolute victory, was within his grasp! Send for it immediately!

And if Saruman tries to keep it, then you know where he stands and you go in force to grab it from him.

And do you really think "this dainty" refers to Pippin? I'm having trouble seeing it. I'm just thinking it would've been written different if that was the case. The quote-

Tell Saruman this dainty is not for him. I will send for it at once.

So, Pip was seriously supposed to turn to Saruman and refer to himself as "this dainty"? I don't think so. When he says to Gandalf (mistaking him for Saruman) "It is not for you, Saruman!" why say "it" if he means "I'm"? If I was Saruman and Pip told me "it's not for you!" I certainly would not understand that "it" meant Pippin. That's an unclear message. A VERY unclear message. Do you think Sauron meant to send Saruman an unclear message? Nope.

And also, earlier in the Palantir conversation Sauron asked "Who are YOU" and after learning he was a halfling he said "WE shall meet again soon". I don't think Sauron was trying to dehumanize (dehobbitize?) Pip by making him an "it".

What is this whole thing about? The Ring. That's what Sauron wanted, that's what Saruman wanted, that's what they were looking for, and that's what they thought they would get by capturing the halfling.

It=Ring

Now, to Mithadan's point-

And then, of all things, Sauron laughs! He was not truly alarmed! Sauron clearly believed that Saruman could not claim the Ring for himself and control it

Bingo!

This is something that I always like to point out. Sauron was NOT scared by a Maia with his Ring, and that's all that matters. It doesn't matter if Gandalf or Saruman or Galadriel thought they could overthrow Sauron with the Ring, what matters is what Sauron thinks about it, for as the creator of the Ring he obviously knows best on Ring-related matters.
And in his mind, Saruman+Ring = little kid with stick.