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 The Times newspaper reported on Tuesday that one of Horner's rival
principals had called him on Sunday morning, before the Austrian
Grand Prix, to commiserate about his supposed departure.
The unidentified boss had been given the impression that Austrian
Gerhard Berger, a former McLaren and Ferrari driver who is close to
Red Bull's billionaire owner Dietrich Mateschitz, was set to replace
the Briton.
"I was shocked," Horner said.
"I had no idea people were talking about me that way. I have a long
contract with the team. It is difficult but I had dinner with
Dietrich on Saturday evening and we still get along very well.
"We know we have problems but we just have to work through them and
I am here to do that job."
Red Bull, winners of four successive driver and constructor
championships between 2010 and 2013, have yet to feature on the
podium this season.
The relationship with under-performing engine partners Renault has
been stretched to breaking point while Mateschitz has talked of
falling out of love with the sport.
At the Austrian Grand Prix, a home race for Red Bull, the team
scored just one point after Australian Daniel Ricciardo and Russian
Daniil Kvyat collected 10-place grid penalties for engine changes.
Red Bull are fourth overall.
Horner said changes needed to be made to enable Renault and Honda to
close the gap on champions Mercedes and Ferrari while the rules
should be simplified.
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However, he added that Mateschitz remained supportive of the sport
despite the situation.
"He's telling what he thinks. He ultimately is a fan, that's why
he's committed so much of Red Bull's marketing activities to Formula
One. The risk for Formula One is when someone like Dietrich starts
to fall out of love with it," said Horner.
"That's a big worry because we need people like Dietrich to be
engaged.
"He runs a multinational company and Red Bull does not exist because
of Formula One...if Formula One isn't generating the return and the
coverage for him then of course he's going to raise questions about
that."
Red Bull run two of the 10 teams in Formula One, with Toro Rosso
used to develop junior talent such as 17-year-old Dutch driver Max
Verstappen.
(Editing by Tony Jimenez)
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