Carlito & Strake
I'd love to know what you mean by 'cleared to final'.
If I'm busy on a landline, co-ordinating or getting an airways clearance I
would not expect someone on a base leg or downwind to start orbiting just because I hadn't asked him to "report final" straight away. Orbiting should only be by ATC instruction - what if you get someone behind you bearing down on you (that you haven't appreciated is there) and you suddenly turn back into them for no reason other than you're unsure where to go.
The idea behind a circuit is you follow it and everyone else in it, initiating a go-around if need be. You
never self initiate an orbit - I've had people do it to me "for spacing" not realising that someone was behind them - I wasn't impressed and they soon found out I wasn't!
CM