Rules for the Road

On Driving Well

The man who talks about breaking rules has usually never made anything. He has only taken. Rules are the bones of a thing and you cannot know what lives without first knowing what keeps it upright. They seem restrictive until you are responsible for holding something together.

The outlaw believes freedom is found in the breaking. A gentleman understands it is found in the knowing. Discernment. From the Latin discernere — to separate, to sift, to distinguish, to see clearly what is true from what only appears to be. The mark of good judgement is knowing when a rule no longer applies and, more importantly, when it still does.

If there is a man worth looking up to in motor racing, Juan Manuel Fangio sits at the top of the list. Five world championships. He raced in the 1950s and is still widely regarded as the greatest driver who ever lived. Yet he would demur at the suggestion. When asked about his secret, he didn’t speak about reflexes or car setup or the thousands of laps he’d turned. He said: You must always strive to be the best, but you must never believe that you are.

It sounds like humility, though it is more useful than that. A permanent dissatisfaction with your own ceiling, carried lightly enough that it does not curdle into anxiety. The moment you decide you’ve arrived, you stop paying attention. You become, in the most dangerous sense, comfortable. And the world prepares to embarrass you.

The best drivers, like anyone who performs at a high level, remain students. They debrief. They refine. They ask questions. They notice when someone does something better. At this year’s Miami Grand Prix, the first two drivers to arrive at the circuit were Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Eleven world championships between them. Still first to the track. Fangio would not have been surprised.

The road gives you exactly as much as you are willing to learn from it. Here are some guidelines to help keep us all on the level. Lord knows the roads need it.

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1. Three things that deserve your full attention: a good road, a good meal and a good woman.

2. Never overtake without generous visibility and a clear exit strategy. Make sure to maintain a minimum visibility of 50 yards ahead of you before passing.

3. Always pass vehicles on the left. Use your left indicator light to let them know your intent to pass. Do not pass into a corner.

4. A proper drive should end at a long table with heavy glasses, good wine, and something roasted.

5. The best interface is still the steering wheel.

6. You’ll always regret packing the extra set. Most sports cars have limited space in the boot.

7. Revving the engine while parked impresses almost no one, least of all your mechanic.

8. Register for the ACS Automobile Club der Schweiz or Automobile Club de Suisse, for comprehensive roadside assistance while in Switzerland.

9. If being passed on the left, do not speed up. Allow the driver to complete the pass, especially when approaching or turning into a corner.