Jenson Button Makes a Viper from Paul Belmondo Spit Its Venom

At the wheel of a Viper GTS-R prepared by Paul Belmondo’s team, Jenson Button turned his discovery of Laguna Seca into a demonstration, clinching a category victory.

Some buy an old race car to admire its curves in a pristine garage. Jenson Button, on the other hand, prefers to check if the right pedal still works. The answer from Laguna Seca: perfectly, thank you for the ears.

The 2009 Formula 1 world champion recently acquired chassis C25 of a Viper GTS-R from Art & Revs. A car whose résumé barely fits on a registration document: entered from 1999 to 2005, this former resident of Paul Belmondo’s team has two participations in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and played leading roles in FIA GT.

Followed by Art & Revs since 2008, it then raced in historic events between 2014 and 2025 with Gérard Lopez, former owner of Lotus in F1. One might say it already knows a few people in the paddock.

Always Winning

For their first outing together, Button and his new machine had a date at the Monterey Historics. Despite the cold, wind, and dust, the Brit set a qualifying time of 1’25. According to Art & Revs, he was still discovering the car. The owner’s manual was clearly left in the glove compartment.

On Friday, Button shared the wheel with Maz Fawaz of Singer Vehicle Design during the endurance event. On Sunday, it was sprint time: starting fifth, he finished second overall and first in GT.

This was enough to impress even the specialists who have maintained these machines for years. Art & Revs admits they never imagined a GTS-R being driven so aggressively. A historic car? Certainly. A peaceful retirement? With Button, that plan seems compromised.

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