Alexander Sims: I’m aiming to be solid and to consistently be scoring points

We are heading to Valencia right off the back of a podium finish for Mahindra Racing in Rome. The nicest thing for me in getting that podium was the way in which we achieved it. It wasn’t a lucky result that relied on others to have problems; it was a result that we earned on absolute pace and performance and we deserved to be there.

Towards the end of the Rome E-Prix, we were even in a slightly stronger position that eventual race winner Stoffel Vandoorne in terms of energy. He had a big gap, and it would have been tough to reel him in, but it seemed like he was relatively concerned about our performance and efficiency and I think we would have been able to close the gap at least.

To know that’s where we were at in the race can give us a lot of confidence. We still have some work to do to understand our single lap qualifying performance, and perhaps it will be different again in Valencia because we can never predict too much in Formula E, but we all have confidence in our package and will never stop working to improve.

It was nice to get back to a proper street track in Rome and it was a very cool and exciting layout, and now we head to Valencia.

Valencia is a very different track to the last one we had in Rome. We’re going from a full on street circuit to a permanent race circuit that has just been adjusted slightly to work for Formula E. It's a lot smoother with longer straights and should be pretty challenging on energy. There are lots of regen zones and coasting and not too much mechanical braking. I hope that we can continue the form we showed in Rome and get another good result in Valencia.

I’m looking forward to the different type of racing that a circuit like this will provide for us. Qualifying will still be important, but probably a bit less so than some of the tracks we’ve been to. Efficiency is going to be key and overtaking will be relatively straightforward. I think we’re going to see a different challenge with slipstreaming, which will be a big factor to be efficient in the race. It might be a little bit like a cycling peloton, where people want to take turns at the front but want to be shuffled back, which will be slightly bizarre! It’ll be cool and I’m sure, as with all other Formula E races, it will present its interesting challenges.

I’m aiming to be solid and to consistently be scoring points. Formula E is inherently unpredictable but if we can try to qualify consistently in the top ten, and be there or thereabouts most races, that would be brilliant and it will inevitably lead us to be in a position to get some more podiums and have a good championship.

Keep an eye on the Mahindra Racing social channels to follow our performance over the weekend and to see exclusive and behind the scenes content. You can also Fanboost me, which gives me an extra boost of power during the race. You can find out all the information on how to do this at the Formula E website here.