A bronze medal would do the Franco-American team a lot of good after a promising but somewhat up-and-down year.
The end of the Formula E world championship is very close fought affair, with the battle between Porsche and Jaguar for titles still to be decided, but also between DS Penske and Andretti (a Porsche-powered team) who are battling for third place in the teams' standings.
At the end of the first of the two London races, Jean-Éric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne have a total of 188 points for their team, 18 points more than rivals Andretti.
Everything is still possible for both teams, even if the figures show DS Penske as the favourite.
In the constructors' championship, the score is a little closer, but it is still in favour of Stellantis (DS Automobiles and Maserati), with the Group three points ahead of Nissan, which also powers McLaren.
A race of high tension
In London, Vergne set the tone in the first test session by recording the fastest time, with Vandoorne in the top ten and less than three-tenths back.
On Saturday morning, caution was the order of the day for the two DS Penske cars. The second practice session is classified as a high-risk session on this narrow circuit, where any deviation can have damaging consequences.
The aim was not to jeopardise the qualifying session scheduled for less than two hours later.
On this track, two-thirds of which is designed outdoors and, uniquely this season, almost 600 metres indoors, the atmosphere is quite...electric.
The stakes are high and each team has its own strategy for achieving its objectives.
At the press conference, Phil Charles, DS Penske's deputy team principal, was very clear about the team's intentions.
"We're going to give it our all and leave nothing to chance," he said. "It's true that if the others make mistakes, as they did in Portland, that will help us. But we're not counting on that. London is a very different circuit, where the energetic nature of the race is less important than on some tracks. We need to seize every opportunity and give ourselves every chance we can."
In qualifying, both drivers were in Group B and eventually landed in fifth and 17th on the grid, with Vergne the better place of the two.
Despite being a short circuit (2.086km), the London circuit is a very physical one for the drivers, who have to negotiate 20 corners on a narrow track.
From the start of the 37-lap race, Vergne and Vandoorne tried to avoid contact as much as possible, with such instances very common on this type of track.
But after the safety car intervened for the first time following a first lap tangle when Vergne was forced into a wall by Andretti driver Jake Dennis, who received a five second penalty for his troubles, although both dropped down the order.
Fortunately, the French driver's DS E-TENSE FE23 was not too badly damaged, and a recovery was still possible.
Behind him, Vandoorne also went on the attack and was just outside the points. Back in the top 10, Vergne was again involved in an accident.
At the end of a race in which there were numerous stoppages - and two laps added by race direction - Vandoorne scored the team's only points in ninth.
On Sunday, the race will be shorter at 34 laps, although there remain plenty of opportunities for the DS Penske drivers to end the season on a high note and consolidate their teams' championship position.
