Songfacts®:

• "Drive" is a revved-up rock anthem recorded by Ed Sheeran for F1: The Movie, a cinematic joyride starring Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes, a retired Formula 1 driver who returns to the fast lane to mentor a hotshot rookie (played by Damson Idris). Think Top Gun: Maverick, but with more carbon fiber and fewer wings.
• The track blends Sheeran's signature melodic pop with rock matching the high-octane energy of Formula 1. He sings of a fast-paced life lived on the edge, with the past in the rearview and the road ahead full of both uncertainty and hope. If "Castle on the Hill" was Ed Sheeran looking in the rearview mirror, "Drive" is him gripping the wheel with white knuckles and no intention of slowing down.
  
  Sheeran said of the song: "I knew I wanted to make a proper rock song for it, a proper driving song - something you'd wanna turn up to the fullest amount whilst driving. I LOVE making songs for movies... It really lets me, as a movie fan, behind the curtain to help create the perfect song for a scene."
  
  Sheeran also described the experience as a "match made in heaven," citing both his love for film scoring (going back to "I See Fire" for The Hobbit) and his real-life affection for Formula 1 - he's gone to races and even performed at them.
• Sheeran wrote "Drive" with producer Blake Slatkin (The Kid Laroi, Lizzo, Sam Smith) and John Mayer, who also handled guitar duties and, in Sheeran's words, "just whacked an octave pedal on and went wild." Sheeran said the song "fell out of us" after they screened the film, and that it came together quickly in the studio.
• The track's all-star band wouldn't look out of place at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's jam night. They are:
  
  John Mayer: guitar
  Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters): drums
  Pino Palladino: (the go-to low-end genius for everyone from D'Angelo to The Who): bass
  Rami Jaffee (Foo Fighters): keyboards and organ
  Blake Slatkin: additional keyboards and drum programming
• The music video, directed by Chris Villa (known for his work with Ice Spice and Post Malone), leans into the adrenaline. There's montage-ready cuts of racing machines, trackside tension, and symbolic flashes of escape and rebirth.
• "Drive" is part of a stacked soundtrack for F1: The Movie, which also features music from Don Toliver and Doja Cat, Rosé (from BlackPink) and Tate McRae.
• As part of his Mathematics European Tour, Ed Sheeran gave "Drive" its live concert debut at Rome's Stadio Olimpico on June 14, 2025. Months later, on January 14, 2026, he brought the song to television for the first time on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, performing with a backing band featuring Dave Grohl and John Mayer.