Robin Frijns has had a strong debut season in Formula E with Amlin Andretti picking up 37 points in seven races, but the team are struggling to understand why their car is fast at some tracks and slow at others.

The American team have had a solid season running an upgraded version of the season one powertrain, but results have fluctuated over the second season and the team has little understanding of why that is the case.

“We don’t know why, In Mexico we were struggling with the pace of the car, even though I finished fifth. In Argentina and Long Beach we were strong, but in Punta Del Este we were slow and we don’t understand why that happens. Our performance goes up and down, I don’t know why,” said Frijns.

The lack of understanding why their car’s performance levels vary from race to race is starting to have an impact on the development of their season three powertrain, as they can’t focus on a particular area to improve next season’s car without understanding their season two car.

“We don’t know where to look. If you look at our top speed, we are slow compared to Renault and Audi Sport ABT. When they started at the back in Argentina they just flew past. It is obvious that we have one of the slowest cars on the straights, which is quite normal with the season one car.

“Also, I am struggling more with qualifying than the race. The consumption a lap is a bit higher with the season one car and we have to work on that for next season,” said the 24-year old.

Over the course of the season, Andretti has brought small software updates to the car, but Frijns is worried about the gains teams have made that use a season two powertrain, which means the American team may have more work to do to catch up next season.

“We have had some updates, but I think, the updates we got have been smaller than other teams because they have their own packages. Heading towards the end of the season we are quite limited now; we are quite maxed out regarding what we can do to the car. I don’t know how big the season two cars updates will be for season three so we will see, but if we are competitive on the track we have to get the best out of it,” said Frijns.

Overall, the Dutchman has been happy with how the season has turned out. He admitted that he felt it could have been a long season after the poor start in Beijing, but Frijns has found himself fighting at the front end of the field in Mexico and Long Beach.

“At the beginning of the season, we didn’t actually know where we were, as we expected the season one cars to be a lot slower than season two cars. You could see that in China, as we struggled quite a bit there. We all thought the rest of the season was going to be tough.

“However, sometimes we are up there, sometimes we are quick and sometimes we are slow, but we don’t really know why that happens. We have scored some points which are important for the team, so if we finish in the top five it’s like a victory for us,” said Frijns.

Frijns currently sits ninth in the driver championship with 37 points. The former Sauber reserve driver will be looking to secure more points in the final three race of the championship.