According to unconfirmed reports tonight, the USF1 team has been effectively closed down by co-owners Peter Windsor and Ken Anderson, bringing to an end their dubious efforts to get onto the Formula One grid for the 2010 season.
The reports from Autosport, making them likely to be more truthful than if we had started them, claim that the remaining personnel of the limping outfit were placed on unpaid leave at lunchtime on Tuesday.
The news follows further rumours that the team owners had told the FIA that they would be unable to compete in any of the 2010 season, and seems to indicate that last-ditch efforts from team bosses to guarantee the team a place in the 2011 season have been unsuccessful.
According to the reports, the team's remaining personnel have been told that they are "no longer required".
Anderson had already confirmed that the team had asked the FIA for the right to skip the first four races of the season, and follows a series of blows to their hopes, including the almost-certain loss of their only signed driver Jose Maria Lopez to the rebranded Hispania Racing team.
FIA technical delegate Charlie Whiting visited the team's factory last week in an effort to discover the viability of the project as an entry on the 2010 grid.
Autosport also claim that neither Anderson nor Windsor were present for the lunchtime announcement at the team's Charlotte headquarters.
Whether or not the team's demise will open up a space on the 2010 entry list for the Stefan GP team remains uncertain, and will depend on the FIA fast-tracking USF1's withdrawal from the championship in time for next weekend's season openener in Bahrain.
No official source from USF1 has yet confirmed the reports.
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