Anyone who has sat in the queue out of a Grand Prix car park knows the problem. On Thursday 12 November 2026, Archer Aviation and Formula 1 announced a possible answer from above: a multi-year partnership that could one day see electric air taxis flying VIPs and fans to and from race circuits.

Under the deal, Archer will be present at select Grands Prix in markets where it plans to run air taxi services, across the US, the Middle East, Asia and Europe. The two partners will also explore bringing eVTOL flights into the race weekend itself, using Archer’s Midnight aircraft.

The key word is explore. Neither side has announced a first race, a route, a ticket price or a date for the first passenger flight. What they have signed is a framework, and a very public stage for an aircraft that has not yet carried paying passengers.

What the partnership covers

According to the joint announcement, the partners will look at dedicated air taxi drop-off and pick-up points at circuits, and at adding air taxi flights to Formula 1’s hospitality and ticketing offers. The idea is that, as Archer’s commercial operations come online in F1 markets, fans could skip the traffic between major airports, business districts and the track.

Archer is already an Official Supporter of Formula 1. Midnight went on display for fans at the United States Grand Prix in Austin, and the company says the aircraft will be shown again at the Las Vegas Grand Prix and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix later this year.

Archer founder and CEO Adam Goldstein framed the deal around audience size and shared engineering. The company cites a figure of 830 million Formula 1 fans worldwide, which it sees as a global pool of potential passengers.

Why the race calendar fits

Archer says its planned US air taxi networks map closely onto the F1 calendar. It has already unveiled planned networks in Miami and in Texas, two states that host Grands Prix, and outside the US it is targeting the Middle East, Asia and Europe.

The Middle East link is the most concrete so far. In July 2025, Midnight began test flights in the UAE from Al Bateen Executive Airport in Abu Dhabi, where it was evaluated in local heat, humidity and dust as Archer prepared for operations in the region.

Archer’s own footage of Midnight’s first flight in the UAE, the region where the company plans one of its first commercial rollouts.

For Formula 1, the attraction is a futuristic addition to a race-weekend product that already sells premium hospitality. Chief Commercial Officer Emily Prazer presented the deal as an experiment in how new technology can change the fan experience.

The aircraft behind the pitch

Midnight is a piloted, four-passenger electric aircraft built for short, rapid back-to-back hops. It has 12 propellers: six tilting units on the front of the wing that provide lift for take-off and thrust in cruise, and six fixed rear propellers used only for vertical flight. Archer designs it for speeds of up to 150 mph and a range of up to 100 miles, with six independent battery packs.

The announcement leans hard on the motorsport comparison. Archer argues that the power-to-weight demands of an eVTOL are comparable to an F1 car’s, and that its electric propulsion, composite structure and aerodynamics are engineered as one system, where every gram of structure has to earn its place.

The caveat is timing. Midnight has not yet entered commercial passenger service, and the release ties any race-day flights to Archer’s commercial operations coming online in each F1 market. Until then, the aircraft will be an exhibit in the fan zone rather than a ride out of it.

A pattern of big-stage deals

Formula 1 is the latest in a string of headline sports tie-ins for Archer, which was named the official air taxi provider of the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2025. The company has also been growing fast on the industrial side: in August 2026 it announced a deal to acquire Boeing’s Wisk, Insitu and SkyGrid subsidiaries.

Motorsport and aviation have traded ideas for a century. If Archer gets Midnight certified and into service, the fastest part of a Grand Prix weekend might one day be the trip to the track.

Sources: Archer Aviation and Formula 1 joint release (Business Wire, 12 November 2026), AeroTime, Tomorrow’s World Today, Archer Aviation

Header photo: Archer Aviation / Formula 1 (press image)