Ed Sheeran and Blake Slatkin on Writing the Rock Anthem ‘Drive’ for ‘F1’ and Making It ‘Sound Like an Engine’

While Ed Sheeran is famed for his intimate acoustic ballads, that signature sound was entirely unsuitable for the high-octane world of the Apple Original Film "F1." Directed by Joseph Kosinski—known for the aerial spectacle of "Top Gun: Maverick"—the movie is a pulse-pounding dive into Formula 1 racing, following Brad Pitt's character, a retired driver coaxed back to help his friend's team, APEX GP, reach the podium. For such a project, a gentle guitar tune simply wouldn't do.

Sheeran was already a familiar face in the F1 paddock, a genuine fan of the sport whose interest was further piqued by the popular Netflix docuseries "Drive to Survive." The opportunity to contribute music arose when his producing partner, Blake Slatkin, viewed an early 20-minute reel and immediately brought it to Sheeran's attention. After watching key footage with legendary producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Sheeran was tasked with scoring the film's climactic final sequence. Inspired, he sent Slatkin a voice memo of a mumbled chorus, intentionally ending with the word "drive" to mimic an engine ignition. They agreed a rock anthem was the only viable direction.

The creative process was heavily influenced by the classic rock vibe established in the film, notably the use of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" in the opening. Sheeran and Slatkin aimed to craft a track rooted in riff-based 1970s rock. For Sheeran, this meant pushing his vocals into a raw, "screamy" register he seldom employs. As Slatkin notes, "People don't realize that Ed can rock like this. We've explored this sound before, but it never quite fit his albums until 'Drive' provided the perfect context." The song was meticulously structured to build with the film's dune buggy chase, with every drum fill and guitar riff timed to escalate the on-screen intensity.

Lyrically, the framework came together organically. Once the melody and phonetic sounds were set, Sheeran found that pulling specific lines and themes from the film's script naturally evolved into full verses. "When you have bullet points from the narrative," Sheeran explains, "the lyrics almost assemble themselves around the existing vocal sounds." Despite the relative ease of writing, Sheeran jokes about the physical challenge of performing it, calling the vocal take "a fucking ball ache to sing." Consequently, he has not yet added "Drive" to the setlist of his ongoing stadium tour, which continues to showcase his more familiar pop and folk repertoire.