Alex Yoong of Malaysia, one of the few drivers with experience of Jakarta's Sentul race track, finished second, followed by Australia's Marcus Marshall in third.
The result was an upset for France's Nicolas Lapierre and Robbie Kerr of Great Britain, who started the race at pole and second position respectively after the morning's sprint race.
The A1 format features two events Sunday. The sprint race decides pole position for the feature race, which determines the overall winner for the A1 Grand Prix.
Canada was the first casualty of the sprint race after coming into contact with Malaysia, meaning they pitted at the end of the first lap and retired.
Lapierre overtook Kerr at the end of the first lap of the sprint race and set the order for feature race pole.
Lapierre said conditions at the Sentul track were difficult Sunday. "The humidity is bad and it is very hot," he said after the sprint race.