The TS16 was a derivative of the TS14, itself the car in which John Surtees had driven his final Formula One race. The team entered 1974 without a major sponsor and with what were described as less than top-quality DFV engines, limiting the car's competitiveness from the outset.
Surtees opened the 1974 campaign with two cars for Brazilian José Carlos Pace and German Jochen Mass. The season was defined by mechanical attrition — both drivers suffered repeated retirements with suspension failures and engine failures across the opening rounds. Pace's best result was a fourth place in Brazil. Pace fell out with John Surtees after the Swedish Grand Prix and left the team, reducing Surtees to a single entry for Mass in the second half of the season.
A series of replacement drivers — José Dolhem, Derek Bell, Jean-Pierre Jabouille, and Dieter Quester — were tried with limited success; Bell and Dolhem failed to qualify at multiple events. Helmut Koinigg, an Austrian debutant, joined for the Canadian Grand Prix and finished tenth.
At the 1974 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, Koinigg crashed on lap ten when a rear tyre apparently began deflating. His car struck an Armco barrier whose bottom rail gave way on impact while the top rail held firm; Koinigg was killed instantly. José Dolhem withdrew from the same race following the accident. The tragedy underscored persistent concerns about barrier construction at the circuit that year.
The team scored three championship points in 1974 and finished eleventh in the Constructors' Championship.
Low on funds, Surtees reduced to a single entry for Englishman John Watson. Results were modest throughout: Watson's best classified finishes were eighth at Spain and tenth at Brazil and Austria. The team missed four races entirely across the season. No championship points were scored, and by mid-season the organisation's financial situation had made consistent participation impossible. After skipping the German and Italian Grands Prix and the United States Grand Prix, the TS16 was retired in favour of development of the new TS19.
Watson did score in non-championship events during 1975, recording three finishes in secondary races.
The TS16 continued to be raced by two independent entrants. Antti Aarnio-Wihuri's AAW Racing Team purchased a chassis and entered Finnish driver Leo Kinnunen in several 1974 races, but Kinnunen failed to qualify in most outings and retired with engine failure in Sweden. The team withdrew when funding ran out.
In 1976, a TS16 was purchased by the Shellsport/Whiting team for Divina Galica to drive at the British Grand Prix, but she failed to qualify.
The Surtees TS16's most lasting significance is the fatal accident at Watkins Glen, which contributed to ongoing debate about circuit safety standards in the mid-1970s. The car itself represented a moment of stagnation for the Surtees organisation between the promising but troubled TS14 and the more competitive TS19, coinciding with the team's worst financial difficulties and most disrupted driver lineup.