When Apple Original Films reached out to Ed Sheeran to commission a song from him for F1 starring Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Javier Bardem, Kerry Condon and more, they let him select the scene to set it to and the type of song he would write. The “Sapphire” singer and four-time Grammy winner, who gets three to four calls a year to write a song for a film, selected the final, closing scene of the film for “Drive,” which he put together with producer and songwriter Blake Slatkin and is now shortlisted for the Outstanding Original Song Oscar. Related Stories News Ed Sheeran Announces 2026 North American Tour Dates Below The Line Songwriters Ed Sheeran & Blake Slatkin On Blending Story With “Uplifting, Euphoric Rock” For ‘F1’ Song “Drive” – The Process Sheeran — also behind the “All of These Stars” from the film The Fault In Our Stars, “I See Fire” from The Hobbit and “Under the Tree” from That Christmas — and Slatkin, who collaborated on Sheeran’s latest album Play, unpacked the making of the gritty anthem in a panel discussion for Deadline’s Anatomy of a Song spotlight series.
