Vergne and Bird unhappy after battle

The inaugural race in the French city was the home event for Virgin's season-two partner DS Automobiles, the luxury sister brand of Peugeot and Citroen.

Vergne got ahead of poleman Bird at the start by following Lucas di Grassi through at Turn 1, and they made slight contact when Bird tried to take back second place on the inside of the next corner.

The two clashed again before the pitstops when Vergne closed the door after Bird dived to the inside at the Turns 2/3 double-right-hander.

They continued in position and were on course to make it a double podium before Bird locked up at Turn 1 under pressure from Sebastien Buemi late in the race and dropped to sixth. Vergne finished second, his first podium for the DS Virgin team, but told Autosport he was not happy about the battle with Bird.

"It was enjoyable if he wasn't my team-mate," he said.

"This is our home race for DS, we were second and third and he was not massively quicker. We're racing for a big team. We don't want to see two cars finishing in the wall."

Bird said a mapping issue was to blame for the wheelspin that hurt his start and admitted he was just caught out by a bump while defending from Buemi.

Asked by Autosport if he took any enjoyment from the fight with Vergne, Bird replied: "No. I can't comment, I'm too angry to comment, and I don't want to say anything I shouldn't.

"There's positives to take. I think we're doing a sterling job. I'm third in the championship, three poles and a win, so it's not all doom and gloom. I stand here dejected - when you start pole you don't want to come sixth - but it is what it is."