Could the fact that the US F1 website is currently down, mean that the North Carolina team has finally pulled the plug.

As speculation over the future of the American team mounts, the website - which working fine this morning, even though it hasn't been updated for weeks - is down, as confirmed by downforeveryoneorjustme.com

While it could be a temporary glitch, with news that the team has told Jose Maria Lopez that he no longer has a drive and revelations that staff members were paid late in January, it could be that Peter Windsor and Ken Anderson are finally preparing to throw in the towel.

Update

After about an hour, the US F1 site has reappeared, however the latest entry remains the confirmation of Jose Maria Lopez' signing on January 25.

Meanwhile, a brief statement has appeared on the Argentine driver's website. It reads: "Taking into account the numerous information about Jose Maria's participation in Formula 1 2010 championship, we would like to inform that yesterday, Jose Maria Lopez Sr, together with Felipe McGough and Victor Rosso, visited USF1 headquarters in Charlotte, US, to be in contact with the Team's Directors."

Presumably, this is the meeting that, according to Adam Cooper writing for SpeedTV, ended up with a tearful Peter Windsor telling Lopez that the team will not be on the grid in Bahrain.