He played 17 times that season. Granted, that's not a huge amount but he only had one spell out of the squad. Was all in a block, so suspect he was injured.
Not sure I agree with your Lando assessment. He's not a Lewis or Max, but there haven't been many of those through the history of F1. He's more a Damon Hill/Nigel Mansell. Could win a title if he's in the right car and the stars align.