Vergne beat Andretti's Jake Dennis to pole in qualifying, and in the initial stages of the race was building a lead over Andre Lotterer after the Porsche driver cleared the Briton.
But Vergne was then dispatched by winner Mitch Evans for the first time following the lap nine safety car and was later cleared by Robin Frijns, prompting the French driver to pick up attack mode to drop behind Sam Bird in the process.
