F1 G-G Plot: Braking, Traction and Cornering

About this chart

What it shows. The combined grip each selected driver used on their fastest lap. Every telemetry sample becomes a point placing cornering force against braking or accelerating force, so the cloud shows how close the car ran to its limits in every direction.

How to read it. The horizontal axis is lateral (cornering) acceleration in g, with the two sides of zero being the two turning directions. The vertical axis is longitudinal acceleration in g: above zero is accelerating, below zero is braking. Each driver has a colour, shared by team-mates, and an outline around their cloud of points. The chart is empty until you select at least one driver.

What to look for. A well-driven lap fills the outline's edges, including the diagonals where a driver brakes while turning into a corner or accelerates while still turning out of it. Gaps along the lower diagonals suggest the driver brakes in a straight line and then turns rather than trail-braking. A wider outline than a rival's points to more grip from the car, the tyres or a lighter fuel load.

Data and caveats. Telemetry of each driver's fastest lap from the official F1 timing feed, processed with FastF1 and published by TracingInsights. Both accelerations are calculated from speed and the car's path and smoothed, not read from on-board sensors, so the outline is an estimate. One lap per driver is used.