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As people have said, its not that much of a surprise, but its still going to be strange not having him in the paddock next season. He's done a lot for Mclaren, but there was always going to be a time, sooner rather than later, when he would step down and Martin Whitmarsh is the right person to take over from him

he always made a good job, also worked with the best of his time (Gordon Murray, John Barnard, Adrian Newey, Prost, lauda, Senna, Rosberg, Hakkinen and specially Jo Ramirez)

he went from a mechanic that forgot to fill the fuel tank of Jack Brabham once, then started with management. he is prolific with that, and turned McLaren in the 2nd best team in the F1 history, all that in less than 30 years

all we gotta say is thanks for the contribution

To see him leaving so soon hurts a lot. I wish he could have survived Mad-Max...

Ron truely is a legend now.

He always got the blame for that, but the real culprit owned up some years ago.

well if he takes over from max, beats bernie and saves f1 - we will be forever grateful

ron we will miss you

Maybe McLaren will start running 2 McLarens now, rather than 1 McLaren and 1 opponent.

Impressive career Ron has had, but I am not sad to see him go. He was as bent as they come.

sad to see him go, but could see it coming... thanks is all i'd say to him

Whilst the news was expected, it is, regardless of your opinions, a sad day for Formula 1. Ron was a brilliant people manager, though the way he ran his drivers throughout different periods of his reign was questionable at times. Witness McLaren's handling of post-qualifying at Hungary '07, Senna-Prost, Mansell's exit (why did you sign him Ron?!)
He set the standards and was the benchmark from 1984-1999 by which all team principles trid to equal. I remember Frank Williams in a interview just prior to the start of the '92 season:
"You will never beat McLaren by having a more organised and focused operation, because his IS the best already and has been for many years, and with Ayrton on board he also has the best driver, a fantastic engine partner (Honda) and sponsors. So the only way to beat McLaren it is by building a faster car, and we think for 1992 we have..."

On a personal level, I will miss him because he was one of the last original team owners who had a real passion for the sport and I admired him when he admitted all those years ago when he said if he woke on a Monday morning and his team had not won a race the previous day, he felt actual pain.
Can't imagine Flavio or the suits at Renault feeling that!

I think the whole thing was inadvertantly placed on him by the spy-gate affair of 2007 and it is understandable he would not want to go through anything like that again.
Let's not forget too that Formula 1 has given him many luxuries but ultimately it has cost him his marriage to long-tem wife Lisa Dennis.

So I raise a glass to you Ron and wish you all the best for the future, Martin's is more than capable of running the show from now on.

Thanks for the memorys Ron