I TOTALLY agree with that statement, Andy - to the point that I make it standard practice give an exagerated head nod to acknowledge ANY flag displayed to me. (I did miss a furled black once but that's a special story.)
That said, the flag station - in an ideal world - should be there to give the driver information that he/she isn't well equipped to get him/herself. I have difficulty believing that drivers have so little capacity for understanding when they are being caught, that they truly require a flag to tell them it's happening...
Maybe I just have (well, had anyway - we'll see if there's anything left this spring) a really acute sense of what was catching me, developed over a couple years running the slowest ****ing IT car in two regions but I don't recall EVER being surprised to find someone behind me, having been alerted to the fact by a blue flag.
Check the mirrors as you exit each corner, in the middle of longish straights, and before each braking zone and you've got most of the world covered with your mirrors and your imagination.
Know which cars are likely to be faster than you (it's typically the ones that were in front of you when the race started, duh). Do NOT try to get out of someone's way - at all - ever.
If you do want to make their life a little easier, predict where they are going to pass you and either (a) get on the gas a smidge later, or (
brake a smidge earlier: This covers passes into or out of corners.
If you are going to get caught between turn-in and the apex, it's a race. If they haven't passed you by your turn-in point, either (a) turn in and let them follow you to the apex or (
slow down a little extra and hang a lane wide at the apex. If you get caught on the straight ... well, just drive the heck along in a straight line. If two cars catching you are nose-to-tail, treat them as one car and do the same things.
If you are lapping someone, assume that they are going to do all of the above - but leave yourself an out if your assumption proves to be false.
K
NOTE that all "yous" are the generic "y'all" - not Andy in particular.