F1 Connections (Pole to Paddock)

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Sort 16 Formula 1 drivers into four groups that share a connection.

on poletopaddock.com

Today's F1 Connections board at desktop size: 16 Formula 1 driver tiles from Marcus Ericsson to Pierre Gasly, with hint, Archive, Stats, Shuffle and Submit, four mistakes left

F1 Connections is a daily Formula 1 puzzle from the fan site Pole to Paddock. Each day you get 16 drivers and must sort them into four groups of four that share something, such as a team, a nationality or a title, with four mistakes allowed. Some drivers fit more than one group, and the last 30 days can be replayed from the archive.

About F1 Connections (Pole to Paddock)

F1 Connections is one of the free games on Pole to Paddock, a fan site of Formula 1 stats, tools, fantasy helpers and games. It takes the grouping puzzle made popular by NYT Connections and fills the board with Formula 1 drivers, past and present, from Kimi Raikkonen and Mika Hakkinen to Oliver Bearman and Kimi Antonelli.

Each day's board has 16 tiles. You pick four that you think belong together and submit them. A right guess locks the group in and shows its category; a wrong one costs one of your four mistakes. The four groups run in colour from straightforward (yellow) through easy-medium (green) and medium-hard (blue) to the trickiest (purple), and the game warns that some drivers could fit more than one group, so the obvious set of four is often a trap.

Scoring adds a layer the original does not have. Each group is worth 10 points, 40 in all, and you can reveal a hint that names one group's theme before you have found it. Each hint costs more than the last, taking 10, 30, 60 and then 90 percent off that group's points once you solve it.

The board is the same for every player each day, and an archive lets you play any of the last 30 days. It suits Formula 1 fans who know their grid history and like the Connections format; a casual viewer will find the yellow group easy, but the purple one rewards deep knowledge of the sport.

How to play F1 Connections (Pole to Paddock)

Open F1 Connections on Pole to Paddock to see the day's 16 driver tiles.
Tap four drivers you think share a connection, then press Submit.
If you are right, the group locks in and its category is shown; if you are wrong, you lose one of your four mistakes.
Use Shuffle to rearrange the tiles, or reveal a hint to see one group's theme at a cost to that group's points.
Keep going until all four groups are found or your mistakes run out, then try earlier boards from the Archive.

Screenshots

The same F1 Connections board at phone size, its 16 driver tiles in two columns above the Shuffle and Submit buttons

An earlier F1 Connections board of 16 Formula 1 driver tiles, with Archive, Stats, hint, Shuffle and Submit buttons and four mistakes left

Tips

Look for drivers who fit two groups before you submit anything: the game warns that some do, and they are where most mistakes come from.
Start with the group you are surest of, since each solved group leaves fewer tiles to confuse the rest.
Think about teammates, nationalities, champions and teams a driver raced for, the kinds of links the game names in its description.
Save hints for the end: the first hint costs only 10 percent of a group's points, but each one after costs more.