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He was one of the staff people in F1 that I sympathized with the most. The late 90s/early 00s when Ferrari supported blatant team orders yet McLaren allowed their second drivers the occasional wins, made McLaren likeable to me at the time and he was the man in charge. Honesty was Ron's and McLaren's selling point to the fans, and at times it even seemed to backfire as they tried too hard to keep it. Some events, particularly the 2007 spying scandal and some complaints from drivers, do make you wonder whether it was all an act - I however like to think some of it was genuine.
He was of course not without some other flaws. His goofy, robotic way of speaking made him object of jokes, his perfectionism helped lead McLaren and F1 into a boring, corporate, cold soul. But less about his character and more about his success:
Like him or not, there is no way you can deny the man achieved fantastic things in F1. Started his career as a mechanic, bought a midfield team in 1981 as Marlboro Project Four, and since that season, led McLaren to more WDCs than any other team (10 against Ferrari's and Williams' 6 each), and to 7 WCCs (Ferrari got 10, Williams got 8). He also leaves a sustainable team for the future: McLaren have manufacturer backing, have the reigning world drivers champion, are a team experiencing a revival after a slump in the mid-2000s, and have a well prepared successor in helm.
Compare him to other team principals of the same generation/era and he pretty much has achieved more than any other. Won the championships I've mentioned, did not let the team die like the Brabhams, Lotuses and Tyrrells, sold his team's soul to a manufacturer but managed to keep the teams name unlike the Benettons and BARs, and always managed to bounce back from any slumps, not letting the team go into a downhill path without future like Williams. In fact I believe his corporate perfectionism is the reason why McLaren haven't gone the same path. It was a matter of survival. And his character doesn't damage the fact he was a pure racer - something we really miss in F1 nowadays.
All of that is more than enough "contribution to F1". And add to that being vocal against Max Mosley - someone needs to keep in check that man's crazy ideas.
He was the kind of guy that will still be remembered in 25 years time, like Colin Chapman for example, although that man had different merits of course.
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